The transport department in Lucknow on Monday seized a private sleeper bus that was carrying 167 passengers, far exceeding its capacity of 47. Among them, 35 men were found travelling on the roof of the bus.
Details of the Incident
The overloaded bus, bearing registration number UP11BT0077, was transporting labourers from Muzaffarpur, Bihar, to Patiala in Punjab. The bus entered Gorakhpur through the Kushinagar border and was moving on the Purvanchal Expressway before being intercepted on Sultanpur Road in Lucknow. The bus was booked by the contractor of the labourers.
Action Taken
Following the seizure, the passengers were sent to Punjab in three separate buses, including two UPSRTC buses. Officials stated that the cost of transportation for the UPSRTC buses would be recovered from the bus owner. The department has also sought cancellation of the bus permit and the driving licence of the driver. The bus was registered in Saharanpur Regional Transport Office in the name of Harpreet Singh.
RTO Enforcement, Lucknow, Prabhat Pandey, remarked, “The people inside the bus were in a more pathetic condition as the driver had stuffed them in. We haven’t come across any bus as overloaded as this in quite a few past years.” Although it was an AC sleeper bus, the air conditioning was not functioning when the bus was intercepted by Assistant Regional Transport Officer, Enforcement, Lucknow, Alok Kumar Yadav. The bus had 10 sleeper cabins and 37 seats.
Further Investigation
The bus will undergo technical inspection to determine if it violated norms for sleeper buses. Meanwhile, the fitness, insurance, and pollution-under-control certificates of the bus were found to be valid. An official expressed concern, saying, “God forbid, if such an overloaded bus meets with an accident, there is no way to ascertain the exact number of casualties. The passengers did not have any tickets. Forget about the victims getting any compensation.”
The maximum punishment for operators in such cases is a penalty for overloading under the Motor Vehicles rules, which may not exceed Rs 50,000.
