Deepika with one of her relatives
Miraculous escape for seven-month-old
Even as Gailo ghat bus accident took 27 lives and left 11 others critically injured, the miraculous escape of Deepika Patel, a seven-month-old girl of Barpali area in Bargarh district, caught many by surprise. The kid’s survival, after she fell from a height of 300 feet, is nothing but divine grace, people in the hospital said. Though her mother Laxmipriya Patel escaped with injuries, her brother and father died in the mishap. Several people were seen roaming around with the baby in their laps on the hospital premises.
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, April 18: Taking a serious note of the Deogarh bus mishap that claimed 27 lives Sunday evening, the state government Monday decided to verify fitness licences of all public carriages through a special drive.
“Fitness licences of all public carriages, especially buses will be verified again as part of a special drive and strong action will be taken against defaulters,” state transport minister Ramesh Chandra Majhi told media Monday.
The minister also sought a probe report from Deogarh RTO. “We have directed Deogarh RTO to probe the circumstances that led to the accident,” Majhi said, adding, the concerned RTO has been asked to furnish the probe report within five days with all details such as the accident, driver, fitness licence of the vehicle and other documents.
Majhi said initial reports suggest that the vehicle was registered with Cuttack RTO and it had not complied with the notice served on its owner regarding the expiry of the fitness of the vehicle. “We are seeking more details in this regard,” Majhi said, adding, “Appropriate action will be initiated against the offender after verification of lapses.” Giving more details about the vehicle, Cuttack Motor Vehicle Inspector Rashmi Ranjan Dalbehera said the bus (OR O5AB9535) was registered with Cuttack RTO.
As per the transport department’s website, the owner of the vehicle—Tapan Kumar Mohanty— hails from Nemeisapur under Ayatpur Sadar in Cuttack district.
Dalbehera said a show-cause notice will be served on the owner of the vehicle as he had failed to comply with the demand notice issued to him last year. “The fitness of the vehicle had expired in April 2013 following which a demand notice had been served on the owner last year,” he said, adding, “Last year, we had issued demand notices to over 17, 000 persons whose fitness had expired.”