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The two back-to-back Volvo bus tragedies have now forced the State government to take the help of a Central government expert agency for recommending whether it should continue its association with the Volvo.

The National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRiP), according to government officials, has collected evidence from the two accident sites of Mahaboobnagar in Andhra Pradesh and Haveri for providing a comprehensive picture if there were any technical flaws in the Volvo buses. The two accidents resulted in the death of around 50 people.

A specific wing of NATRiP, the Accident Data Analysis Centre headquartered at Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, will be looking into the two disasters and the primary reasons for the accidents.

The NATRiP is said to be proficient in collecting the accident data, reconstructing the accident in a virtual world and reproducing the crash to ascertain the safety of the vehicle.
Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy said: “NATRiP has collected the evidence from both the crash sites and is presently analysing the data. A final report will be submitted to us in the next few days.”

It is said that the government will be taking the final report of NATRiP as a reference to issue stringent set of regulations for further purchases of any buses in the State and in specific, the safety of the Volvo buses.

Sources in the government said the CoD enquiry initiated by the Andhra Pradesh government into the Mahabubnagar bus inferno has prima facie indicated that the negligence of the driver had led to the accident.

Additional tank

Sources said that yet another doubt that has cropped up is the possibility of private travel agencies having tried to tamper with the body of the bus by placing an additional 200 litre fuel tank in the front of the Volvo bus, which already has 400 litre fuel tank in the sides.
 Reddy has said that explicit directions have been given for installation of emergency exit doors in all the Volvo buses in the next three months. “Failing which, the government will stop running the Volvo buses across the State,” he said.

It is said that Volvo, till 2011  had installed emergency exits but had scrapped them yielding to the pressure by the private bus operators’ lobby.