Several students were injured and four of them with head injuries after a Bal Rath bus carrying them veered off the road and landed in a trench before turning turtle on Thursday morning near Bali when on its way to Cuncolim.
The bus driver claimed that the steering wheel of the bus got locked which resulted in the accident. This claim needs to be verified by carrying out a thorough investigation.
If the bus had to fall into a deep gorge or into the river bed after breaking the railing, the consequences would have been disastrous. The Government Goa has provided the Bal Rath buses to aided high schools, higher secondary schools and special schools through a special scheme in order to facilitate the school children and to have good quality education without any transportation hardships.
A large number of students in government-aided schools travel by these buses. The maintenance of the buses has left a lot to be desired. These buses suffer breakdowns on a regular basis.
Many-a-times the buses are overloaded with students. These buses are twelve years old and need to be scrapped. When the government is acquiring electric buses for public transport, why not replace the old Bal Rath buses also, many of which are probably not road worthy.
