17 rescued from stranded ST bus on flooded bridge in Nandurbar

MUMBAI:Residents and police rescued 17 people on board a state transport bus from getting washed away by a river at Navapur in Nandurbar district in north Maharashtra

MUMBAI:Residents and police rescued 17 people on board a state transport bus from getting washed away by a river at Navapur in Nandurbar district in north Maharashtra on Thursday. The bus, with registration number MH 20 BL 2610, was en route to Jalna from Surat in Gujarat. It broke down and was stranded on a flooded bridge, over the Rangavali River, at Navapur around 5am. The water suddenly rose, causing 15 passengers and two ST staff to panic.

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The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), the biggest public transport undertaking in the country, has suspended the driver for risking the life of passengers and ordered a departmental probe. The action came on the directive of transport minister Diwakar Raote, who is also the chairman of MSRTC.

Sources said the passengers raised an alarm but no one was around to help. One of them called the police control room number — 100 —as the water was flowing with tremendous force and could have washed away the bus. The police rushed to the spot and by then, residents gathered there.

As it was impossible to get to the bus, they used a JCB and tied the bus to it with a rope. The bus was then pulled to safety.

Passengers blamed the driver saying that he tried to cross the river even when the bridge was flooded, which they say led to the breakdown.

The driver, Rakesh Dilip Sable, 32, is from Dhule. An MSRTC release said that the route taken by the bus was not the designated route for the bus.

“We have suspended the driver as he tried to drive the bus on a bridge that was flooded,” said Ranjitsingh Deol, vicechairman and managing director of MSRTC.

Raote has also asked the MSRTC administration to instruct all the depots to promptly follow the safety measures for the rainy season, sources said.

Last Tuesday, the state witnessed a shocking incident near Mahad, where a bridge collapsed over river Savitri, taking with it two buses and a Tavera. The authorities feared 40 people were dead. Twenty six bodies have been recovered so far. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), along with the Indian Navy, Coast Guard and local residents, were conducting operations to find the buses and passengers.