Worli BEST depot accident: Family of 17-year-old demands 'strictest punishment' for driver

A monitor with poor visibility due to dirty rear-view camera, at Worli Seaface bus stop, on Friday

Even as mid-day, during a ground report, discovered the poor condition of rear-view cameras on BEST's AC buses, the family of 17-year-old Preeti Kori, who was crushed to death on Tuesday, demanded the strictest punishment for her killer. Kori was crushed between two BEST buses when a driver reversed the vehicle at Worli Village Depot. The president of the National Sports Club of India, where the deceased's father works, has also demanded justice. Manoj Kori, Preeti's father, told mid-day, "Her dream was to help the family financially. I lost her because the driver didn't check while reversing."

On Friday, mid-day visited Worli Seaface bus stand and saw BEST officials running the services from there, as Worli Village Depot was shut temporarily since Kori's death on Tuesday. It checked several of BEST's air-conditioned buses, the only ones with reverse cameras, and saw that dust had gathered on its lenses, blurring the visibility on the monitor.

While some rear-view cameras were not positioned well, giving an absurd view on the driver's monitor, lenses of those placed correctly were thick with grime and visibility on the monitor was almost negligible.

Deceased Preeti Kori and accused bus driver Gautam Siddharth Bhalerao

On bus route no. A-162 (registration no. MH-01-DR-2711), mid-day asked the driver to reverse, and when he did, there was zero visibility on the monitor. Another bus, with vehicle no. MH-01-DR-2250 of route A-118, had the same issue.

‘Cameras aren't cleaned'

Most of the drivers told mid-day that the lenses get blinded after 5-6 hours of operation.

"It is the responsibility of cleaning and maintenance staff to clean the lenses regularly. But, while the buses are washed, lenses remain dirty. We had complained to our bus depot manager, but it had fallen on deaf ears," said a driver on condition of anonymity.

Ganesh Bhikule, the eyewitness, shows the spot where the accident happened killing the teenager, at Worli Village Depot on Friday

Some BEST officials said the drivers of newly acquired AC electric buses drive recklessly. "These drivers are not equipped to reverse the bus while monitoring the screen," he added. The drivers were seen taking the conductor's help in reversing.

‘Drivers' responsibility'

BEST spokesperson Manoj Varade said, "It is a driver's duty to inspect if the bus and all its equipment are functional or not. If the camera lenses are not cleaned, the cleaner should be informed and if there is any other glitch, the technical staff should be informed. Before leaving the depot with the bus, every driver is supposed to take a test round and check brakes, head lights, cameras, etc."

After mid-day's Friday report of the teenager's death, National Sports Club of India (NSCI) President Viren Shah wrote a letter to the BEST and Shiv Sena Yuva chief Aaditya Thackeray, asking to take strict action against the driver and install rear view cameras in all buses.

Shah told mid-day, "Such cameras are available at an economical rate and BEST can afford them. It will save people's lives and also help the drivers. The deceased's father, Manoj Kori, works as a waiter in the bar of our dome. We stand with him and he should get justice."

One such incident was reported in 2018, too, when a 22-year-old woman, Amreen Saba Momin, was crushed between two buses while a driver was reversing.