ALMORA/DEHRADUN: In one of the worst road accidents in Uttarakhand in recent times, 36 people died and 27 were injured when a bus operated by Garhwal Motor Owners Union (GMOU) and going from Naini Danda in Pauri Garhwal to Ramnagar in Nainital fell into a 200- metre-deep gorge near Marchula in Almora district around 7 am on Monday.
The overloaded 37-seater bus, which was carrying 63 people, lost control near Sarad Bend and fell along the Geet Jagir river, 35km from Ramnagar, officials said. On July 1, 2018, another overcrowded bus had plunged into a gorge in Pauri Garhwal in the Dhumakot area, not very far from the spot where Monday’s accident happened. It had led to 48 deaths.
S oon after the accident, CM Pushkar Singh Dhami suspended assistant regional transport officer (enforcement) of Pauri and Almora districts for permitting the bus to operate despite its allegedly dilapidated state. He also ordered Kumaon commissioner Deepak Rawat to initiate a magisterial inquiry into the incident.
Twenty-eight people, including the bus driver, died at the spot, while eight others succumbed to injuries. Kumaon commissioner Rawat said four individuals sustained severe head injuries, of which three were airlifted to AIIMS Rishikesh for urgent treatment. Of the 36 people who died, 24 were from Pauri Garhwal, with four each from Almora and Nainital. Several are yet to be identified. Emergency responders, including SDRF, local police, and medical personnel, faced challenging terrain as they worked to rescue passengers from the wreckage on the forested, rocky slope, close to the riverbank, SDRF commandant Arpan Yadhuvanshi said. CM’s office said NDRF was also deployed to support the search and rescue efforts.
President Droupadi Murmu, PM Modi, defence minister Rajnath Singh and Dhami expressed condolences over the lives lost. Modi announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PM’s National Relief Fund for each of the families of the dead and Rs 50,000 for each injured. Additionally, Dhami pledged Rs 4 lakh to the families of the dead and Rs 1 lakh for the injured.