Following two accidents involving buses carrying migrant labourers from Gujarat’s Surat at Kalinga ghat on Kandhamal-Ganjam district border, the Odisha government on Sunday decided to change the route of buses to Ganjam district.
According to official sources, since Saturday night, over 75 buses with migrants from Gujarat have entered Odisha. Most of them are on their way to Ganjam district.
Two migrants had died on Saturday and several others were injured when their bus hit the guard wall at a turn on Kalinga ghat road.
On Sunday, another bus from Surat to Ganjam met with a similar accident. Luckily, only three were injured in the second accident.
Both accidents had occurred as the drivers of buses from Gujarat were not acquainted with the turns onthe dangerous hilly road.
The Odisha government has ordered a probe into the accidents. Transport Minister Padmanabh Behera said instead of traversing the hilly road of Kalinga ghat, the buses carrying migrants would now travel to Ganjam district via Boudh-Charichhak-Nayagarh.
According to the Sub-Divisional Police Officer of G. Udaygiri in Kandhamal district, both accidents happened because the bus drivers lacked the skill and knowledge about the dangerous turns on the hilly road.
