Kallar Kahar tragedy: Inquiry teams fix responsibility, recommend strict action

Inquiry team attributes accident to sheer negligence of motorway police which failed to stop overload bus.

FAISALABAD: Two teams constituted by the Punjab government to investigate the Kallar Kahar incident have fixed responsibility on the school administration, the bus driver and motorway police.

In light of recommendations by both teams, the district administration has decided to seize Millat Grammar School and cancel its registration. Criminal proceedings will be initiated against the school management. An inquiry team headed by DCO Faisalabad Naseem Sadiq said the main person responsible for the accident was the bus driver. The driver was speeding near the Kallar Kahar turn due to which he lost control and the bus overturned. The accident resulted in the death of 35 people including 32 schoolchildren. He was not familiar with the hilly terrain and was unaware of the danger of driving recklessly through Kallar Kahar on the motorway, according to the inquiry report which has been presented to the Punjab government.

Shafiq Anwar, a professor at the University of Agriculture, and his brother Hafeez Anwar were co-owners of the school. They charged each student Rs700 for the trip but failed to provide proper transport. The school administration had promised air-conditioned buses instead of which it arranged for a single dilapidated vehicle. Vice principal Hafeez died in the accident, but the inquiry team has recommended the registration of a criminal case against Shafiq for negligence. Millat Grammar School was established on four residential plots in violation of the building bye-laws and was issued four notices by the Faisalabad Development Authority.

The inquiry team attributed the accident to the sheer negligence of the motorway police which failed to stop the overloaded bus. The vehicle’s entry and exit were recorded on the cameras installed on the motorway. The motorway police checked the bus near Kallar Kahar but failed to take any action. The team also refuted reports of brake failure and noted that the bus driver lost control on a dangerous turn which resulted in the accident. The bus driver applied the emergency brake and there are tyre marks on the road to prove it.

Following the inquiry report from the DCO team, the chief minister’s inspection team (CMIT) led by Chairman Najam Saeed visited Faisalabad on Friday and met with the injured. Team members recorded statements of the injured children and some eyewitnesses. They also visited the school and recorded statements of its administrators and some parents whose children died in the accident.

The CMIT has also concluded its inquiry and endorsed the conclusions of the Faisalabad administration team, sources claimed. The reports have been forwarded to chief minister Punjab for further action.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2011.