Sidhi: Following the unfortunate accident where a bus carrying over 54 passengers, fell into a canal on Tuesday killing as many as 51 people, questions over the administration and transportation department have now started to mount.
Reportedly, the biggest reason for the accident was the jamming in the Chuhia valley after which the bus route was diverted and forced to take a road which was in a dilapidated state.
ETV Bharat reached the spot to gather more information and here's what we saw.
Roads on the Chuhia valley are straight-up worse dirt tracks. The amount of dirt in the area is blinding making it harder for passengers to see the way ahead.
So narrow is the way that if any big vehicle breaks down or stand on the way it creates a traffic jam.
According to the information, there was a jam here for the last 4 days, due to which the route of the bus going direct was changed and the bus came out from the bridge of Bansagar canal of Rampur where the accident happened.
The rescue is still going on the second day.
Besides questions on the administration and transport department, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and all his claims regarding the state of roads has once again come under scrutiny.
Also read: 47 dead after bus falls into canal in Madhya Pradesh
When the Chief Minister was talking to investors in America in the year 2017, he said that roads in Madhya Pradesh are better than that of America. He had said that when I walked out of Washington airport and travelled on the road, I thought that Madhya Pradesh has better roads, but now the question here is if the roads of Chuhia Valley were like America, then how did 50 people die?
Local people say that the road has been jammed for four days. There is no representation of administration here. If any policeman had been there, then this jam would have been removed and the accident would not have happened.
The bus that fell in the canal belonged to Jabalnath Travels, which used to go to Satna via Chuhiya Valley every day. The biggest reason for the accident is believed to be the narrow road.
The bus was supposed to go from Sidhi to Satna from its fixed route National Highway No. 39. But seeing the jam, the driver took the bus through a narrow path which passes through the canal. The driver lost balance and the accident occurred.
