Unnao bus tragedy: Major lapses in registration of 68 buses, Mahoba RTO staff to blame: Report
These 68 buses were registered on temporary addresses in Mahoba in the name of persons many of whom were not aware that they owned buses.
haidernaqvi@htlive.com
The registration of 68 buses, including the one that crashed into a milk tanker killing 18 people in Unnao on July 10, in Mahoba was done by throwing all norms to the wind, said officials privy to the details of an inquiry report that was submitted to the state government by transport authorities three days ago.
These 68 buses were registered on temporary addresses in Mahoba in the name of persons many of whom were not aware that they owned buses.
The inquiry was conducted by the regional transport officer (RTO) of the Banda region and the assistant RTO of Mahoba. The report indicted former Mahoba ARTO Mahendra Pratap Singh and middlemen for serious procedural lapses, they added.
These buses, all used ones, were registered on temporary addresses between 2019 and 2021 with the Mahoba RTO. At least 34 buses, including the one involved in the Unnao tragedy, were found registered in the name of one Pushpendra Singh of Mavui village in Mahoba.
The racket worked in collusion with the staff at the Mahoba RTO office, which registered vehicles without proper verification, thus meaning that these vehicles can continue operating without paying their tax dues or settling traffic challans since the notices will remain undelivered.
Currently, each of these 68 buses has a tax liability ranging from ₹10 lakh to ₹20 lakh, according to officials in Lucknow and Mahoba.
The report underscores that these registrations were done in violation of all norms even without the technical examination of the 68 vehicles, they said.
While the registrations should have been cancelled after a maximum of three months, the rule was ignored, and the buses were allowed to ply with impunity on the Bihar-Bundelkhand-Delhi circuit, the officials said.
Accused still out of police bounds
The accused in the case—Sohan, a partner in the KC Jain Travels of Jodhpur—was currently being tracked by the Unnao police in connection with the accident. He blames co-accused Chandan Jaiswal for the accident.
Sohan claims that after the death of KC Jain in 2021 the company became a defaulter and had to lease out its fleet of nearly 100 buses to different operators.
According to him, the agreement clearly mentioned that the person taking a bus on rent would be responsible for its fitness, payment of taxes and insurance, and would be liable in case of any accident. The bus with Chandan was given on rent for a little over ₹1 lakh per month.
“Our buses are stuck with people who do not return them. We have filed 30 FIRs for the recovery of our buses in Jodhpur,” he was quoted as saying. Jaiswal was one of those persons, he said.
On why did his company register 34 buses in the name of one person (Pushpendra Singh), he said the transport authorities should be asked instead. “We completed all formalities as per the rules and policies followed at the time.” Pushpendra Singh, he said, was a former employee of the firm, which had opened a local office in Mahoba.
Another initial inquiry report blaming the overspeeding of the bus for the accident has brought into question the sturdiness of the vehicle, which was, quite literally, peeled off from one side in the accident. The report prepared by the Unnao transport authority stated that a forensic examination was going on to determine the quality and safety features of the bus, which initially seemed extremely dubious.