Bhubaneswar: Another road accident involving an Ama Bus occurred in Bhubaneswar when the urban transport vehicle allegedly hit a scooter on Saturday morning.
As per information, the incident occurred around 7 am near Patrapada area in the city when an Ama Bus allegedly collided with a scooter, leaving the rider injured.
The injured, reported to be a delivery executive, was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment. Sources said the bus was on its regular route from the Patrapada depot towards Dumduma when the accident took place.
Locals expressed concern over the fresh mishap claiming that the number of accidents involving the Ama Bus service has gone up in recent days.
The fresh mishap took place a day after locals vandalised Ama Buses following a mishap on Jan Path in Ashok Nagar area of the city on Friday. The driver and conductor of an Ama Bus were also allegedly assaulted.
Following Friday’s incident, Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT), which operated Ama Bus service, issued a statement condemning attacks on its vehicles and crew members.
It said Ama Bus plying on route 82 with 10 passengers was halted at Ashok Nagar Stoppage at around 2:15 pm on Friday, when suddenly a bike rider approached from the wrong side and collided with the right front wheel of bus due to an auto-rickshaw moving closely ahead of the bus. Owing to insufficient space to pass, the two-wheeler lost balance and collided with the bus. No injury was reported to the rider in the incident and therefore the bike rider realising his mistake started picking up his vehicle to leave. However, a group of local miscreants gathered at the spot and started vandalising the Ama Buses plying in both the directions by hurling stones and bricks.
Following such unethical practices by the miscreants two of the AMA bus Captains (drivers), Ajay Kumar Dakua and Ramesh Chandra Nayak, driving through this location were seriously wounded along with the some passengers travelling inside the buses. One of the captain Mr Gauri Shankar Naik called the PCR immediately and was subsequently rescued by the police personnel, the CRUT said.
It said both the manhandled bus captains have filed FIRs at the Capital Police Station and CRUT authorities are coordinating closely with the officials of capital police station to ensure strict legal action against those involved in such unlawful activities and to ensure prevention of recurrence of such incidents in future.
“CRUT strongly condemns this incident and reiterates its firm commitment to passenger safety, protection of its staff, and the lawful operation of public transport, and appeals learned and responsible citizens from twin city to cooperate with the authorities for hassle free services,” the statement added.
