Kasaragod: A day after a Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus ploughed into two autorickshaws at Talapady, killing six people, Kerala activists and officials stopped KSRTC buses at the border on Friday and checked their tyres, triggering unease between officials of the two states.

At least six KSRTC buses were stopped at Talapady on NH 66. "Three had good tyres. The other three had bald tyres," said Zakhariya Manjeshwara of the Road Safety Action Committee.

The activists, with Manjeshwar police and transport officials by their side, made the passengers shift to buses with good tyres. "It is about the lives of the people," said Zakhariya. Although the Kerala Police and Motor Vehicle Department officials supported the move, the Regional Transport Officer (RTO) of Kasaragod and the Enforcement RTO later stated that their officials were not involved in the checking.

KSRTC officials in Karnataka bristled at the action. "Our buses have valid fitness certificates. Kerala officers asked us to change tyres on six buses, claiming they were unfit. We complied only to avoid a confrontation," said Rajesh Shetty, Division Controller, KSRTC Mangaluru. He insisted that none of their buses run on bald tyres.

Shetty pinned Thursday’s crash entirely on the driver’s negligence. He said the driver sped off the six-lane stretch onto a two-lane road without taking the service road, hit an autorickshaw, then fled as the driverless bus rolled back and crashed into a woman, her son and another autorickshaw. "The tyres had nothing to do with the accident," Shetty said. "If they were faulty, how did another driver bring the bus to the police station?"
He said KSRTC has released ₹1 lakh each as solatium to the families of all six deceased, and is bearing the medical expenses of the two injured because the accident was caused solely by the driver's mistake.

However, the Kasaragod RTO, who inspected the accident vehicle, disagreed. He said the bus was mechanically fit, but the rear tyres were bald. "The road was narrowing and it was wet, the tyres bald, there was an incline. When all of it came together, the accident happened," he said. The Enforcement RTO added that he has repeatedly asked Karnataka to ensure buses have functional doors and keep them shut while running. "These instructions are ignored. I am drafting another letter to be sent to Mangaluru KSRTC," he said.

Meanwhile, Zakhariya denied that Friday’s checks were pre-planned. "We only went to inspect the accident site. But when we saw KSRTC buses with bald tyres, we stopped them. Lives are at stake," he said.

The Divisional Controller of Karnataka SRTC said he saw the videos of the bus checking at Talapady, and identified a few activists as people linked to private buses and autorickshaws. "But since Kerala Police also called us, we cooperated. Otherwise, we would have filed a police complaint against the activists. They have no right to stop buses," he said.