Death of Bhumaiah in road mishap

GHMC truck was driven by cleaner

Akula Bhumaiah, president, Telangana Praja Front (TPF), died on Tuesday night in a freak accident. A GHMC truck knocked him off his scooter and mowed him down at Vidyanagar X Roads. This mishap has exposed that the civic body’s vehicles have been operating far beyond their lifetime expectancy and that cleaners, without proper driving licences, take out the vehicles in the absence of drivers. The truck that mowed down Bhumaiah was driven by a cleaner.

• GHMC has very few licensed drivers
• In the absence of drivers, cleaners take out vehicles
• The drivers and the cleaners also drink to overcome smell of garbage
• Out of 889 trucks, 163 have outlived their life span
• Maintenance cost is high for old vehicles
• CPI (Maoists) see foul play in the death of Bhumaiah

Hyderabad: On Tuesday, TPF president Akula Bhumaiah was mowed down by a GHMC truck. The truck was driven by a cleaner and not the driver. A highly placed source in the GHMC said, “The designated driver of the truck, Ravinder, was not present at the parking lot at that time. So Chennaiah, a cleaner, was given the keys of the truck to fuel it up and bring it back.

The truck collided with the scooter of Akula Bhumaiah resulting in his death.” Meanwhile, the CPI (Maoist) in a statement issued on Thursday blamed it on both the State and Centre. Calling it a state sponsored murder, the party leadership said that Bhumaiah was killed as part of a larger conspiracy to curb the rise of radical ideology. The GHMC tipper was used so as to picturise it as a road accident, said the party. Bhumaiah was given a tearful adieu at his native village Kachapur in Karimnagar district. In fact the cleaner who drove the vehicle did not possess any driving licence and hardly knew how to drive a truck. A case has been filed against the cleaner at the Adikmet police station.

The GHMC has employed 1,230 drivers. Of these only 200 are permanent while the rest work on a contract basis. After their duties, the vehicles are parked at parking lots at Kavadiguda, Khairatabad and Malakpet. It is in these areas that assistant engineers of the transport department conduct maintenance checks. However, due to the load and oxidation, heavy maintenance costs are incurred. It is telling on the fitness of the vehicle. Yadagiri, caretaker, Kavadiguda dumping yard, says, “The trucks are maintained by engineers in the workshops, in the respective parking lots. Apart from that, no extra expenses are incurred.

Reports with the GHMC suggest that there are instances where workers (cleaners) drive the vehicles instead of drivers as they sometime work in double shifts. This is precisely one of the reasons for the accident of TPF president Akula Bhumaiah. Also, many drivers consume liquor while driving to overcome the foul smell of garbage.

The GHMC has 889 vehicles which are being used for garbage collection, veterinary services, among others. Of these, 663 are exclusively used for collection, transport and disposal of garbage. According to the RTA rules, the maximum life of any vehicle is 15 years. After the expiry date, a fitness certificate has to be obtained from the RTA for every passing year. Out of 663 vehicles, 163 GHMC vehicles are more than 15 years old and 168 are in between 10 and 15 years.

These vehicles transport 3,600 tonnes of garbage every night to the Jawaharnagar dump yard.

In an earlier interview with Hyderabad Hans, Nagaraj, chief transport officer, GHMC, said, “Maintenance of those vehicles is a major hassle for us, because of the nature of jobs that they are involved in. When they lift garbage, both wet and dry, there is bound to be some oxidation in the truck’s metal body. And that takes a toll on the vehicle’s life. That is why a lot of money is invested in their maintenance.”

When asked about the purchase of new vehicles, he said, “Buying new vehicles is like owning a white elephant. For the GHMC, the job becomes easier if we outsource the vehicles and the manpower that goes with them.”