One person died and two others are reportedly injured after a bus fell off the mountainside into a 300 feet ditch in Pauri district on Sunday. According to the information provided by the local police the accident happened at about 7:45 in the morning and there were only three people in the bus at the time including the owner of bus who died on the spot.  

The deceased has been identified as Balbir Singh Negi (60) resident of Kotdwar while the injured include the driver Vachan Singh (51) and a passenger Sanjay Singh (28).

According to the information provided by district control room, the bus was of Garhwal Motor Owner Union (GMOU) and was being driven from Bamnisain to Kotdwar through the Dhumakot-Bhaun motor route. According to the victims the road had debris all over because of heavy rainfall so the driver in order to avoid the large stones tried to take the bus from the corner of the road. While doing so the tyre got stuck and the driver lost control over the bus.

When asked about the daily problems employees of Uttarakhand Transport Corporation are facing while operating on mountainious regions, the general secretary of Uttaranchal Roadways Karmchari Union (URKU) Ashok Chaudhary said that compared to past years this monsoon season mountainous routes are in worse condition. With the work of all weather road many of the routes are covered with debris because of which it has become dangerous to operate buses safely on such routes. Such accidents were already anticipated but the government and state administration failed to take precautionary actions on time, he opined.