BEST probe blames driver, lease operator for Kurla mishap

Bus driver Sanjay More was not trained adequately by the lease operator and the BEST staff had failed to ensure the same which led to the accident, said the inquiry report

Mumbai: There was no mechanical fault with the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking bus that went out of control in Kurla West on December 9, 2024, killing nine people and injuring 41 others, an internal inquiry by the undertaking has found. Instead, bus driver Sanjay More was not trained adequately by the lease operator and the BEST staff had failed to ensure the same which led to the accident, said the inquiry report submitted by the BEST administration to chief secretary Sujata Saunik on Monday.

Sanjay More

According to sources, the internal probe led by former BEST general manager Anil Diggikar, who was transferred after the incident, and his successor, Dr Harshdeep Kamble, found that More had undergone only three days’ training instead of the stipulated 15 days. The BEST administration had failed to produce agreement papers with EV Trans, the bus provider, and Maurya, the firm which supplied drivers, the report pointed out.

The incident had occurred at around 9.30pm on December 9 last year, when a 12-metre-long Olectra electric bus—the longest in BEST’s fleet—went out of control on SG Barve Marg and travelled around 200 metres before hitting the boundary wall of a housing society. More, who was behind the wheels, claimed that a mechanical fault had caused the accident. Tests conducted on him showed that he was neither drunk at the time of the incident nor mentally ill. He was subsequently arrested and denied bail by the sessions court on January 10.

Soon after the accident, the bus was examined by staffers of regional transport office (eastern Mumbai), who found it to be perfectly alright. BEST’s internal probe concurred with the transport officials and blamed the accident on More’s sudden transition from manual, geared, diesel vehicles to an automatic electric buses on December 1, after only three training sessions.