Transport Minister K. Atchannaidu on Monday directed officials of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation to phase out outdated buses.
“Buses that are 10 years old and have run 12 lakh km will soon be replaced with new vehicles. About 1,000 new buses will come on to the roads soon. Training will be given to drivers on latest technologies”, the Minister said.
Mr. Atchannaidu, at a review meeting, discussed at length with the corporation authorities on reducing road accidents. Officials explained that the APSRTC is having 5% of buses which crossed 10 years service, and about 10% of the vehicles had operated over 12 lakh km.
The Minister enquired about the road accidents in which RTC buses were involved in Avanigadda, Anakapalle and Vijayawada, and expressed condolences to the bereaved family members. Mr. Atchannaidu expressed concerned over the accident in which three persons were killed at Singhnagar flyover in the city on October 27.
Accident rate
The officials explained that the accident rate in APSRTC was 0.08 and the corporation was trying to bring it down further. APSRTC Vice-Chairman and Managing Director M. Malakondaiah explained about the fatal road mishaps that occurred on National Highways, main roads and the timings.
The Executive Directors (EDs) informed that the corporation was conducting regular medical tests to the drivers and 544 drivers have medical problems and their cases would be reviewed separately.
“We discussed on the service profile of drivers, age of drivers, cases booked, condition of roads, condition of the buses and other issues,” an APSRTC officer told The Hindu .
Meanwhile, a team of engineers of Vapcon Manufacturing Engineering and Sundaram Company engineers inspected the bus that met with an accident at Singhnagar Flyover in the city and tested the brakes on Monday.
