In yet another major road accident in Uttarakhand, 14 persons died and 17 were injured-11 of them seriously- when the roadways bus they were travelling in fell off the road about 250 metres down the mountainside on the Rishikesh-Gangtori national highway at Sulyadhar near Chamba in Tehri district. Sources state that the road being narrow due to ongoing work on the all-weather road project is one of the reasons for the mishap.
According to official sources, an U’khand transport corporation bus UK 07PA 1929 departed from Bhatwadi in Uttarkashi district at 5 AM on Thursday for Haridwar. At about8 AM on the Chamba-Uttarkashi motor road, the driver of the bus with 31 passengers reportedly lost control causing the bus to fall about 250 metres down the mountainside. Thirteen passengers died on the spot while one died during treatment. Of the injured passengers, 11 seriously injured passengers were taken by helicopter while five other injured were taken by ambulance to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Rishikesh. Two other injured passengers were released after primary treatment.
Meanwhile, the Governor Krishan Kant Paul and Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat aired grief at the the accident. While Cabinet Ministers Yashpal Arya and Subodh Uniyal visited the accident site, the Chief Minister announced ex-gratia of Rs 2,00,000 each to the families of those killed and Rs 50,000 financial assistance for each of the injured. later, during his visit to AIIMS, Rishikesh to check on the injured persons, the Chief Minister said that a magisterial inquiry of the accident had been ordered. A concrete action plan will also be prepared to prevent such mishaps in the future. Stating that two helicopters had been used to transport the injured persons to AIIMS in Rishikesh, Rawat said that the State Government will provide all possible assistance to the injured persons.