Transport unions in Tamil Nadu have alleged that the use of substandard spare parts in government buses is undermining maintenance standards and putting passenger safety at risk.
They cited a fatal accident last year in which a state-run express bus travelling from Tiruchirappalli to Chennai met with a crash after a front tyre burst, killing seven people. The unions claim that despite the incident, no effective corrective steps were taken, and in the following six months hundreds of government buses were involved in accidents linked to tyre bursts.
In a recent incident, a Kumily–Nagercoil government bus reportedly suffered a front tyre burst and veered off on its own, with passengers escaping due to the driver’s presence of mind. With more than 20,000 buses operated by state transport corporations and about 2.03 crore passengers travelling daily, unions said repeated mishaps have created a growing threat to commuters.
Union representatives said public confidence in the state transport corporation has eroded due to recurring accidents. They urged the government to conduct a comprehensive inspection of existing spare-part stocks, remove inferior items, and probe whether irregularities occurred in spare-part procurement over the past five years.
They also called for a stronger monitoring mechanism to ensure quality in purchases and maintenance, insisting that there should be no compromise on bus safety and that action must be taken against those found responsible for any procurement wrongdoing.
