Bengaluru: “This should be a wake-up call for politicians and officials. The children in the bus were nursery and primary school students, they are traumatised. If this accident does not spur politicians and officials into action and fix broken roads, what will?” asked angry and shaken parents, whose children were rescued from the bus that almost toppled on Panathur-Balagere Road Friday. Anasuya, whose daughter was inside the bus, said she herself has met with an accident three times on the broken road. “My daughter said she was sitting in front and as soon as the bus tilted, kids from the other side fell on her… she said the kids were crying out of fear. As muddy water seeped inside the bus, my daughter’s clothes and books were all damaged, but we are thankful our kids got out safely. It could have turned into a tragedy. We have suffered enough, we can’t keep quiet anymore.”Sandeep, another parent, told TOI: “Today we were lucky, but tomorrow it could be a tragedy. My daughter and the other kids were terrified as the bus tilted — some even fell on each other. If the bus had toppled a little more, it would have been unimaginable. The real problem is not just this incident, but the pathetic condition of the Panathur-Balagere Road. Every day, it’s like riding on a hill with hidden craters, and yet no one fixes it. How long can we depend on luck to save our children?”Abhay Rai, a parent who got the news via WhatsApp, said, “When I first saw the images of the tilted bus, my heart sank. Most of the kids inside were very young, my nine-year-old daughter included. She called us later using her teacher’s phone, saying she was safe, but even now she says she feels as if she’s tilted while sitting on the sofa. The trauma is psychological. Just slightly more tilted and the bus would have toppled completely. If this doesn’t open the eyes of the administration, what will? My entire family is traumatised when we think about what our kid just escaped from… we taxpayers don’t deserve this.”3 incidents on same dayWhile the school bus partially toppled between 7.30am and 8am, two more similar incidents occurred on the same Panathur-Balagere stretch within hours. A mini-tempo and a water tanker were trapped after their wheels sank into slush-filled craters, exposing once again the road’s dangerous condition.The mini-tempo, which tilted dangerously after getting stuck in a pothole, was pulled out with the help of commuters passing by. Later, a water tanker was seen leaning sideways before being rescued with an earthmover.Pavitra Hola, a resident who regularly uses the road, said, “Accidents have become a routine here, but now even vehicles are toppling into these craters. An auto fell right in front of my eyes — it’s impossible to judge the potholes when it rains.”Drain work held up by rain: OfficialRamesh DS, commissioner of Bengaluru East city corporation, who inspected the Panathur-Balagere stretch, told TOI the accident occurred because the school bus driver veered to the extreme left, where drain and culvert works were under way. “We’re constructing drains to ease waterlogging near the Panathur railway underpass, but rain delayed the work. The road formation has also been weakened. If the weather holds, we will complete the drain work within 2-3 days and relay the road. Property clearance issues have also caused hurdles. Meanwhile, commuters must exercise caution on this stretch, especially when it rains,” he said.
