Several families were ruined today when at least 40 passengers drowned when the bus they were travelling in fell into the Vairab river in Murshidabad apparently because the driver of a state bus made a mockery of the state government’s campaign of ‘Safe Drive Save Life’.
A passenger, who sat behind the driver and was among the few lucky survivors, said the driver was talking over his mobile phone held in his right hand while he was moving the steering wheel with his left hand minutes before the accident occurred. State transport department has spent crores of rupees by organising rallies, workshops for drivers to generate awareness, distributed leaflets as part of the ‘Safe Drive Save Life’ campaign to curb road accidents, a senior transport department official said.
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The campaign was initiated by the transport department on 8 January 2016 following the chief minister’s instruction. The department has introduced provisions for stringent punishment to bring down road accidents. Kolkata is among the top five metropolitan cities where highest number of road accidents was registered in 2016, data released by Union ministry of Road transport and Highways said.
The state government should deploy more police on roads and install closed circuit television cameras to stop rash driving instead of spending money in ‘Safe Drive Save Life’ campaign, a senior transport department official said who is reluctant to be identified. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee also claimed on several occasions that the number of road accidents has come down due to the campaign.
A senior transport department official said, necessary measures will be taken to enforce the laws more strictly. Aggrieved relatives at Murshidabad Medical College were distraught and asked: “Who will protect us now? We have lost our earning members.
Who will give us our food?” Last year city police had introduced suspension of driving license for three months if police can nab a driver talking over cell phone while driving. The much publicised ‘Safe Drive Save Life’ campaing
