PUDUCHERRY: The government will conduct a detailed inquiry into Monday’s bus accident at Kaduvanoor village in South Puducherry, said Chief Minister N Rangasamy here on Tuesday.Briefing newsmen at a press conference, he said that the inquiry would encompass overloading of the school bus and action would be taken against the driver as well as the private bus operator for carrying more than the permitted limit.The number of injured rose to 138 and they were being given treatment at the Indira Gandhi Government General Hospital and Post Graduate Institute. The Chief minister announced a solatium of `2 lakh to the family of the deceased. He also said that the government would give `10,000 each to three children who suffered fractures and `5,000 each to the others injured. Rangasamy said the government would take action against all those responsible for the poor maintenance of vehicles and added action would also be taken against fleet operators not operating services on rural routes despite permits sanctioned to them . Official sources said that normally two buses were operated on a particular route covering villages in the belt, but only one vehicle was running on Monday leading to the overloading.AIADMK Demands Higher SolatiumThe AIADMK, on Tuesday, demanded enhancement of solatium for the next of kin of the victims of school bus tragedy from `2 lakh to `5 lakh and cash relief for the injured to `20,000 each.MLA and secretary of Puducherry AIADMK A Anbazhagan said the relief announced by the Chief minister was inadequate.Further, he said overcrowding of the bus was one of the reasons for the mishap and questioned the government for not taking action on the bus operators who despite availing of permits were not plying on the route. He said the issue had been raised by AIADMK MLA Periyasamy in the Assembly, but to no avail. He blamed the government for not monitoring the plying of buses. Even the CM has accepted that there was overcrowding, but despite that no action has been taken, he said. The accident was due to lethargy of the government, he added.Further he said that rural roads were in a bad shape and criticised the government for spending the entire allocation of `150 crore to PWD on urban roads.
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