City bus drivers in Mangaluru continue to flout orders of top-cop, compromising public safety
A lot has been said about the carelessness and the menace the city bus drivers in Mangaluru has created on the roads of the city leading to multiple fatalities and casualties over the last few years. Several people have died due to overspeeding buses or the carelessness with which these bus drivers ply buses on the road in the city.
Several media reports have been published calling for action against these drivers and regulation for the buses and its drivers to drive with more care and while keeping public safety in mind. But the pleas of these media reports to create the awareness among the drivers have fallen into deaf ears.
Last year, former Commissioner of City Police, Kuldeep Jain, issued an order to cancel a bus stop at Bendorwell junction following a fatal accident involving a city bus. The move aimed to alleviate traffic congestion and enhance pedestrian safety. A banner was prominently displayed at the bus stop, indicating the cancellation of the stop and prohibiting city and government buses from picking up or dropping off passengers at the location.
However, the order was blatantly ignored by bus drivers, who continued to halt at the junction, disregarding the safety directive. Even in the presence of traffic police constables deployed to manage the junction, the drivers persisted in their violations. The banner, meant to inform the public about the order, was torn down, further highlighting the drivers' disregard for the rules. The traffic police almost always turned a blind-eye to these bus drivers flouting the orders of their boss, the top-cop of the city.
Jain was also subsequently transferred from Mangaluru, following which new police commissioner Anupam Agarwal took charge as the new top cop of the city. But that did not change anything, the drivers, kept flouting the order, jeopardizing the public safety and traffic cops kept turning blind eye to the violations.
Despite the confirmation from Jain himself a few days before he was transferred, that the order was in place, its effective implementation remained a challenge. The buses, particularly during peak hours at Bendorewell Circle, caused significant traffic disruptions, inconveniencing the general public. Notably, the drivers displayed aggressive behavior, honking incessantly and resorting to verbal abuse when other vehicles caused delays, asserting their lack of regard for road etiquette and safety.
Vartha Bharati attempted to contact the current Commissioner of Police, Anupam Agarwal, for a comment on the matter. However, Agarwal was unavailable for a response. It will be interesting to see if Agarwal mends the social and road behaviour or these bus drivers or gets a routine transfer like his predecessor Jain while maintaining that “the order is still in place but we are unable to effectively implement it”
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
