Transport Minister cracks down on rule-violating private buses

Hyderabad: Following the bus fire accident in Kurnool that killed 19 people, Telangana Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar on Friday warned the private bus owners of stern action if found operating their vehicles with poor maintenance, expired permits, or invalid documents.

Ponnam Prabhakar stated that a meeting will soon be held with transport departments from neighbouring states to discuss preventive measures, including strict enforcement of speed limits.

Ponnam Prabhakar expressed deep sorrow over the bus accident and extended condolences to the families of the deceased.

The minister said that private bus operators violating transport rules would be booked for murder and sent to jail. The minister asked travel operators to follow rules and adhere to speed limits. “Do not play with the lives of people by running unsafe buses,” the minister warned.

The minister said that we have directed the transport officials to seize any unfit buses to eliminate potential threats to life. We direct the transport officials to seize the buses if they do not comply with the rules.

Ponnam Prabhakar said “Speed limit prevents accidents, and we will ensure strict enforcement of the regulations,” he said. He said that the speed limit rules were enforced on Tirupati ghat roads. He said that at entry and exit points, the authorities concerned record the time to monitor the speed limit of vehicles in both directions. The minister stressed the need for a similar system for buses operating between Hyderabad – Tirupati – Vijayawada – Visakhapatnam – Rajahmundry and Bengaluru.

The minister highlighted that thousands of passengers travel daily between Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka and assured that all possible steps will be taken to prevent such incidents in the future.

Ponnam Prabhakar added that a meeting will soon be held with transport ministers and transport commissioners from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka to discuss measures to prevent accidents and to curb violations by private travel operators.

“I will personally reach out to frame effective measures to prevent such incidents in future,” said Ponnam Prabhakar, adding that a joint enforcement mechanism was the need of the hour.