Uttarakhand bus mishap prompts MP govt to look into road safety issues

Bhopal, June 8 (IANS) The death of 25 tourists in a bus accident in Uttarakhand has prompted the Madhya Pradesh government to look into road safety issues in the state. The government has decided to set up a three-member panel to prepare a report on road accidents, especially of the passenger buses.

This committee will have three cabinet ministers -- Gopal Bhargava (PWD minister), Govind Singh Rajput (transport minister) and Arvind Singh Bhadoria (cooperative and public service minister), who will be tasked to review the activities conducted for road safety. Besides reviewing the causes of road accidents in the state, the committee will also be looking for necessary measures to be adopted for this purpose.

A decision on this was taken during the discussion on Uttarakhand bus accident. At least 25 people from Madhya Pradesh were killed after the bus they were travelling in fell in a deep gorge on Sunday. All those who died in the accident were from Panna-Chhatarpur districts of Madhya Pradesh.

During a discussion with the cabinet ministers on Tuesday, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan expressed his concern over bus mishap in Uttarakhand. He stressed upon the need to examine the cause of accidents and also sought suggestions to rectify.

The chief minister also expressed the need to analyse the causes of recent road accidents in different districts -- Betul, Khandwa, Rewa and Panna. Subsequently, he directed to constitute a panel of three ministers to prepare a report on road safety issues in the state.

A recent bus mishap incident took place on Tuesday in Rewa district where a bus carrying around 30 passengers overturned, leaving more than 15 people injured.