An estimated 200 sleeper buses from Kerala ply daily to cities like Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad. | Photo credit: File Photo
The recent rampage of burning buses – the latest incident on Sunday (October 26) on the Agra-Lucknow highway – has raised alarm in Kerala, where around 200 such buses ply daily to cities like Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad.
While lax safety norms and an untrained crew were blamed for the October 24 sleeper bus fire in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool district that claimed 20 lives, another 20 passengers succumbed to burn injuries when a commuter bus was gutted on the Jaisalmer-Jaipur corridor earlier this month.
Planned clamping
Already inundated with complaints of reckless driving, alleged irregularities and tax evasion involving many such interstate luxury buses, the state transport department is all set to crack down on the operators of these vehicles. The ongoing intensive enforcement will soon shift its focus from stage coaches to luxury buses operated on contract transport/All India Tourist Permit (AITP), in view of cases of insufficient adherence to safety norms and frequent illegal modifications of these premium vehicles, official sources said.
Many fatalities and other accidents have been reported – along with cases of rash or drunken driving and rude behavior by the crew – involving several of these buses operating from Kerala. Cases of insufficient number of hammers to break sealed glass windows in an emergency, absence or dysfunction of fire extinguishers, alarms and emergency exits are common. This is largely because most of these interstate buses are registered in northeastern states, where production of the vehicle for the annual eligibility test is not mandatory, they added.
Over time, officials of the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) found that many buses that were claimed to have been submitted for testing in such states were actually spotted passing through toll booths in Kerala on the same dates. One such ill-maintained bus which lost control and overturned on the NH bypass in Kochi in 2023, crushing a two-wheeler rider to death, was found to have illegally extended its length to accommodate five more seats and additional luggage, it was reported.
A senior MVD official said sleeper buses are not “type approved”. “Road vehicles are not designed to transport people long distances in the supine position because there are no harnesses. Only ambulances can transport people in this position with harnesses,” he said.
Kerala Road Safety Authority (KRSA) expert member Upendra Narayanan, who was part of a team testing prototypes of several passenger safety vehicles in the Middle East, stressed the need for minor design changes in luxury buses – especially imported models – to improve safety. “Their fuel tank is mounted on the right side, which poses a risk of fire if hit by oncoming vehicles. The solution would be to move the fuel tank to the middle, between the main frame of the chassis, and reinforce it with a steel plate underneath. Additionally, installing a main switch or circuit breaker, as in fuel tank trucks, would help cut off the power to the bus wiring harness,” he said.
In addition, placing a breathalyzer on the steering wheel would help deter drink driving, while the use of flame retardant materials for upholstery, curtain materials and floor carpets would reduce the risk of fire. Above all, such multi-axle buses with fixed glass windows need more emergency exits, he added.
Published – 26 Oct 2025 20:54 IST
