On Cam | State Bus With Half-Broken Rooftop Runs on Road in Maharashtra's Aheri; Probe Ordered

In a viral video, a Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus was seen running on the roads of Gadchiroli-Aheri route with its rooftop partially getting detached and fluttering in the air. The viral video has led the authorities to order a probe into the matter.

An official in the matter said that the bus was operating in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district, adding that an employee responsible for maintenance of the vehicles was suspended.

The video of the bus running with the fluttering rooftop went viral on social media on Wednesday. The bus was from the Aheri depot in Gadchiroli district.

MSRTC vice chairman and managing director Shekhar Channe said, “A probe has been ordered into the incident. Action is being taken against the officer concerned.”

The suspended officer was from the mechanical engineering department in Gadchiroli, another official from MSRTC said. The reason for the suspension was being responsible for poor maintenance of the bus, he added.

He further explained that the entire rooftop of the bus did not get detached, rather only the outer fibre portion over the driver’s cabin was broken, leading it to flutter in the air when the bus was running on the highway.

The aluminium rooftop portion on the outer side over the passengers’ cabin and its inner layer of the entire bus was intact, said the official.

He said that only people from outside, on other vehicles could see the fluttering rooftop, the passengers and the driver had no clue about it. It was only after the outsiders pointed it out that the crew members of the bus asked them to take a video.

The MSRTC is one of the biggest public transport chains in the country. It has more than 15,000 buses in its fleet and over 60 lakh passengers use it for commutation every day.

The bad condition of the state transport buses was attributed to the poor maintenance, especially in the post-pandemic scenario. The leaking buses pose troubles for several passengers, a union leader in the MSRTC claimed.

(With inputs from PTI)