Imperative to ensure accountability for recurring incidents: Cong after Andhra bus fire incident
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New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Friday demanded accountability after the loss of lives in a bus fire incident in Andhra Pradesh's Kurnool district, with Rahul Gandhi saying recurrent accidents like these raise serious questions about the safety of public transport systems.
A Bengaluru-bound private bus from Hyderabad caught fire in Kurnool district on Friday after colliding with a two-wheeler, leaving 12 people dead, a senior police official said.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the tragic incident that resulted in the loss of many precious lives is profoundly distressing.
"I extend my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families of all the passengers who lost their lives in this tragedy and wish a swift recovery to those injured," he said.
It is imperative to ensure accountability for these unfortunate recurring incidents, Kharge said.
The tragic incident of a bus catching fire on the Hyderabad–Bengaluru highway in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, resulting in the loss of many precious lives, is profoundly distressing.
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) October 24, 2025
I extend my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families of all the passengers who lost their…
In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said the loss of many innocent lives in the horrific bus fire accident is deeply tragic and painful.
"I express my deepest condolences to the bereaved families of all the passengers who lost their lives in this tragedy and hope for the speedy recovery of the injured," the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.
आंध्र प्रदेश के कुरनूल में हैदराबाद-बेंगलुरु हाईवे पर बस में आग लगने के भीषण हादसे में कई निर्दोष लोगों की मृत्यु अत्यंत दुखद और पीड़ादायक है।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 24, 2025
इस त्रासदी में जान गंवाने वाले सभी यात्रियों के शोकाकुल परिवारों के प्रति गहरी संवेदना व्यक्त करता हूं और घायलों के शीघ्र स्वस्थ होने की…
"Recurrent accidents like these raise serious questions about the safety of our public transport systems. Passenger safety is a top priority, and it is essential to ensure accountability for these accidents, along with responsibility for vehicle maintenance," Gandhi said.
Among the deceased was the biker. According to initial reports, the motorcycle collided with the bus near Chinnatekur in Kurnool and got dragged underneath with its fuel cap open, triggering the blaze.
"So far, 11 passengers and a biker have died. Police are entering the bus to assess the situation, and the fate of nine other passengers is yet to be ascertained," Kurnool Range DIG Koya Praveen told PTI.
He added that a complete picture of casualties and survivors would emerge only after thorough investigation and identification of all those involved in the accident.
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Indigo cancels 67 flights from multiple airports due to bad weather, operational issues
Mumbai (PTI): Domestic carrier IndiGo on Thursday cancelled 67 flights from multiple airports due to "forecasted" bad weather and operational reasons, according to the airline's website.
Of the 67 cancelled flights, only four were for operational reasons, and the rest were due to "forecasted" bad weather at various airports, including Agartala, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Varanasi, Bengaluru, among others, as per the website.
Aviation regulator, DGCA, has announced the period between December 10 and February 10 next year as the official fog window this winter.
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As part of the DGCA fog operations (CAT-IIIB) norms, airlines have to mandatorily roster pilots who are trained to operate in low-visibility conditions, as well as deploy a CAT-IIIB-compliant aircraft fleet for such operations.
Category-III is an advanced navigation system that empowers an aircraft to land under foggy conditions.
Category-III-A is a precision instrument approach and landing that enables a plane to land with a runway visual range (RVR) of 200 metres, while Category-III-B helps in landing with an RVR of under 50 metres.
IndiGo, whose operations are under DGCA monitoring after the cancellations of thousands of flights early this month, is already operating a curtailed schedule in compliance with the government's order.
Under its original winter flight schedule, the airline was permitted to operate 15,014 domestic flights per week, or about 2,144 flights per day, roughly six per cent higher than the 14,158 weekly flights it operated during the summer schedule of 2025.
However, after the massive disruptions, which saw the airline cancelling 1,600 flights on a single day on account of new rest norms for pilots, which allow more rest to the pilots, the government cut down the airline's domestic flight schedule by 10 per cent or 214 flights per day.
As a result of that, IndiGo can't operate more than 1,930 flights per day on domestic routes under its current winter schedule.
The Rahul Bhatia-controlled airline cancelled thousands of flights between December 1 and December 9 on account of a lack of proper planning, and crew shortage in implementing the new set of regulations for pilots' duty period and rest, which were put in place from November 1, thereby causing severe hardships to lakhs of air travellers.
Following this, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) formed a four-member panel, comprising Joint DG Sanjay Brahamane, Deputy Director General Amit Gupta, senior Flight Operations Inspector Kapil Manglik, and FOI Lokesh Rampal, with a mandate to identify the root causes of widespread operational disruptions at the Rahul Bhatia-controlled domestic carrier.
The panel, which has already grilled IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and Chief Operating Officer Isidre Porqueras as part of its probe, is expected to submit its report by this week.
Meanwhile, IndiGo, in a travel advisory on X, said, "Low visibility and fog over Bangalore has impacted flight schedule. We are keeping a close watch on the weather and doing our best where you need to be safely, smoothly".
Reacting to the advisory, an aggrieved passenger, in an X post, said, "My flight on December 20 from Bhubaneswar to Ahmedabad got delayed for more than five hours, and today my return flight from Ahmedabad to Bhubaneswar also got delayed more than three hours with the same excuse as bad weather. I am travelling with my senior citizen parents, and this delay is not acceptable. Need proper explanation, along with compensation".
