Bhubaneswar: As many as 32 major road accidents involving Ama Bus services operated by Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT) were recorded in the last two years that claimed 14 lives across cities, including Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Rourkela, the state assembly was informed recently.Replying to a question, the housing and urban development minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra said the accidents took place during 2024 and 2025, with 17 cases reported in 2024 and 15 in 2025. Of the total, 14 were fatal accidents while the remaining 18 were categorised as major incidents.Bhubaneswar emerged as the most affected, accounting for a total of 23 accidents and 10 fatalities during the two-year period. Cuttack reported four accidents with two deaths, while Rourkela saw two accidents resulting in one fatality. Single accidents were reported from Puri, Sambalpur and Berhampur, though without any fatalities.The minister said the state govt and CRUT have initiated multiple measures to curb accidents and fix accountability. These include speed restrictions for buses, daily alcohol testing of crew members, enhanced driver training programmes and strict recruitment norms mandating minimum heavy motor vehicle driving experience.As per the reply, more than 500 alcohol tests were done in the two-year period that saw 19 crew members terminated and 26 suspensions. Continuous training programme to ensure safe and defensive driving. The crew members were also given training on first aid and emergency response.A recruitment criterion has been fixed as per which a mandatory five years’ experience in heavy motor vehicles is fixed for the drivers. An accident review committee has been constituted to investigate all major and fatal incidents. So far the committee has examined 24 cases and terminated two crew members based on the findings.The minister said plans are underway to introduce advanced driver assistance systems and install dash cameras inside the buses. “Proof of concept trials from various vendors are completed. Eight agencies installed their devices on 14 buses and re-tendering is under process,” the minister added.He stated a high-level committee, chaired by the principal secretary of the department, was constituted in Jan to review and monitor road safety measures on a fortnightly basis. “On the committee’s recommendation, several key decisions were taken to further strengthen operational, technical, and compliance-related safety aspects,” the minister said.Mahapatra said to improve environmental performance and operational safety, 12 diesel buses will be replaced with 50 mini electric buses, prioritising deployment in the state capital. “This step aims to introduce safer, cleaner mobility options while reducing the dependence on conventional diesel vehicles,” he said.
