Four students were injured after a Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation bus carrying schoolchildren overturned at the first bend of Supe Ghat near Baramati on September 16, according to a report by Loksatta – Pune. The injured students were taken to a hospital in Loni Kalbhor, where they were undergoing treatment.
The bus was travelling towards Supe via Patas at around 7.30 am with students from Kusegaon, Padvi and surrounding areas. The report said that the vehicle lost control while climbing the slope at the first turn of the ghat. It then overturned twice and fell below the road because the roadside section did not have a protective parapet or crash barrier.
An estimated 60 to 70 students were travelling in the bus at the time of the accident. The injured students are from Baramati Vidya Pratishthan English Medium School. School principal Patil confirmed that the four students were receiving medical treatment.
The incident has led parents to question whether the school transport bus had undergone regular technical inspections. They have sought an inquiry into the condition and inspection of the vehicle’s brakes, engine, tyres, horn and other systems before it was used to transport students.
Parents have also demanded that a daily safety report be maintained for buses carrying schoolchildren and that school transport arrangements be inspected regularly. These demands follow the report’s account of a bus carrying a large number of students negotiating a dangerous ghat bend without a roadside protective barrier.
The accident has also renewed calls for a parapet and other safety measures at the first turn of Supe Ghat. The report said Yogendra Pawar, a youth leader of the Nationalist Congress Party led by Sharad Pawar, visited the accident site. The condition of the four injured students and the findings of any official inquiry will determine the next steps on vehicle and road safety.
