Maharashtra bus not over-speeding at time of accident in MP; probe ordered to find out cause: MSRTC

The Maharashtra state transport bus that fell off a bridge into the Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh on Monday was travelling at 45 kmph and not overspeeding according to Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation MSRTC officialsThey said a probe was ordered to find out the exact circumstances leading to the accident in view of the initial findings that suggested the bus was not speedingA top official said the bus was fitted with a Vehicle Tracking System VTS As per the records retrieved from the system the bus was travelling at 45 kilometres per hour kmph when it plunged into the river at 947 AMAlso read At least 13 killed 15 rescued after bus falls into Narmada riverIt means the bus wasnt overspending said the officialHe said an inquiry has been ordered to find out what happened at the time of the accident as the bus broke the railings of the bridge from the drivers side before going downAt least 12 passengers were killed after the bus fell off the bridge between Khalghat and Thigari in the Dhar district a few hours after it left for Amalner in Maharashtra from IndoreAll the public transport buses including those operated by MSRTC are locked at the maximum speed of 80 kmph through a device known as the speed governorAnother senior official said media reports that 4050 passengers travelling on the bus were wrongThe MSRTC officials pointed out that all the doors of the bus were locked when it was pulled out from the riverbed with the help of a crane This implies there is less likelihood that anyone might have washed away in the river Also the ticketing machine records indicate the sameThroughout the day no one has come forward saying that their relative was on board the bus and has been missing Neither we received any complaint on the helpline nor anyone contacted the local administration at the spot he said adding that the relatives of all the accident victims have come forwardAnother MSRTC official who is at the accident spot told PTI over the phone that the bus had ten passengers besides the driver and the conductorHe said the local administration has stopped the search and rescue operation at the spotNotably MP Home Departments Additional Chief Secretary Dr Rajesh Rajora told PTI on Monday evening that 12 people were killed in the accident and two passengers are possibly missingHe had also said that a search operation involving the personnel of the National Disaster Response Force NDRF State Disaster Response Force SDRF and Home Guard jawans is on to trace the missing passengersThe bus was operated by the Amalner depot in the Jalgaon district on the IndoreAmalner routeThe MSRTC official further said the ticket machine records show that the bus had nine passengers on board when it departed from Mhow in Madhya Pradesh around 815 AM but another passenger boarded at Dharmapuri where the bus stopped at around 917 AM for a few minutesDharmapuri is a few kilometres away from the Narmada river bridge near KhalghatThe tenth passenger might have boarded the bus at Dharmapuri which is one of the official stoppages but the bus might have met the accident before the ticket was issued to that passenger officials addedThe MSRTC adopted an advanced GPSbased ticketing system a few years ago because of which whenever a conductor issues a ticket the information gets updated on the central ticketing server