Protest against new hit-and-run law affects city bus services in MP’s Indore

Indore (Madhya Pradesh) [India]: The protest of transporters and drivers against the new law on hit-and-run cases has affected city bus operations in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore district where out of 400 buses only 75 buses are operating within the city.

AICTSL (Atal Indore City Transport Service Ltd) Public Relations officer (PRO), Mala Singh Thakur told ANI, “We operate around 400 buses within the city and around 175 buses outside the city and in other states. The operation of the bus started on Monday morning but following the environment (referring to protest) in the surrounding area, the operation of buses got stopped. Similarly, we started the Bhopal to Indore bus service at 6:30 pm on Monday and five to six schedules were operated, but after the uproar at ISBT, we stopped it.”

“This morning, we operated 25 i-buses and 50 city buses within the city. At present, a total of 75 buses are running in the city. The buses going out of Indore are not being operated right now. The administration is constantly concerned about this matter and soon we will start those buses as well,” She added.

When asked about the problems faced on Monday in operation of the bus, she further said that incidents of vandalism occurred in some buses and also some people came, tried to threaten and vandalise buses in the depot. Safety of the passengers is the priority and keeping their safety in mind, it was decided that the bus would not run. On Tuesday, buses were operating with complete safety.

When asked about driver and conductor agreed to operate the bus, the PRO added that everyone was ready and all the staff, including driver and conductor were present in the depot.

Meanwhile, as a result of protests by transporters and drivers, people faced long queues at various fuel stations in the city as well as an increase in the vegetable and fruit prices.
Due to the protest, the vegetables and fruits supply at Devi Ahilya Bai vegetable market was in less quantity and as a result, the prices of the vegetables increased.

According to the Mandi in charge, around 500 to 600 trucks of vegetables and fruits used to arrive in the market every day, but on Tuesday only 150 trucks reached here. Due to which, the prices also increased and the common people were facing problems.

Notably, under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), which replaced the Indian Penal Code, drivers who cause a serious road accident by negligent driving and run away without informing the police or any official from the administration can face punishment of up to 10 years or a fine of Rs7 lakh. Earlier, the punishment in such cases was two years in the IPC.

Private transport operators claim the law discourages drivers and may lead to unjust punishments. They claim that the drivers could be subject to mob violence when they attempt to transport the injured to hospitals and demand the repeal of the law.