Flouting rule not a 145;berth146; right

The Regional Transport Office and the traffic police today decided to take action against errant owners of sleeper coach buses that often carry more passengers than provided for...

Errant sleeper coach buses breaking rules to be reined in

The Regional Transport Office and the traffic police today decided to take action against errant owners of sleeper coach buses that often carry more passengers than provided for, thus flouting safety norms. Sleeper coaches have been found to often pack in more than one person for each berth.

In a meeting today, the RTO and the traffic police took note of all norms flouted by sleeper coach buses.

8220;The Regional Transport Office has assured us that they would provide us with sufficient manpower to crack down on owners of sleeper buses who flout norms,8221; said DCP, traffic police, Manoj Patil.

He said there had been three accidents involving sleeper coaches in the state in the recent weeks, where the buses had been carrying excess passengers and flouting other norms as well. 8220;We have taken action against one bus recently,8221; said Patil.

The authorities were spurred into action because of a complaint made to the chief minister8217;s office on October 3, 2008, which was passed down to various transport departments, including the RTO this week.

The complainant narrated his own experience and said: 8220;In a 20-seater sleeper bus, there were approximately 54 travellers. Berths had two passengers and in one case, three people were made to share one berth; because of the quarrel that ensued with the driver, there was an accident.8221;

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A member of the 8220;Sarthak Sanghatana8221; had written the letter. The complainant also pointed out that the government was losing revenue for every extra passenger thus ferried illegally.

According to 8220;the Maharastra Motor Vehicles Rules, 19898221;, berths in sleeper buses are required to have the following standards in size: 1.75 metre in length, width not less than 0.76 metre and not more than 0.9 metre 8212; which means that not more than one person can be given one berth. It also makes air-conditioning compulsory. 8220;Public service vehicle shall be equipped with air-conditioning unit of adequate cooling capacity,8221; the rules say.

8220;It is true that each berth should have only one passenger. Some travellers flout norms and give us a bad name,8221; said Pratap Aidasani, Royal Travels, a sleeper bus operator. He said often passengers did not pay for the air-conditioning and therefore owners switch off the AC. There are around 100-150 sleeper buses operating from the city. Buses from Pune ply to four neighbouring states: Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Goa. They also carry passengers within the state.