TARN TARAN: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Sunday announced an ex-gratia payment of ₹5 lakh each to the families of five people killed in the head-on collision between two buses operating under the Mukh Mantri Teerth Yatra scheme in Tarn Taran. He also announced ₹1 lakh each for the 11 injured passengers.
After spending around 45 minutes meeting the injured at Government Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, where all 11 are undergoing treatment, Mann said the state government would bear the entire cost of their medical treatment.
Responding to a media question, the chief minister ruled out any investigation into the incident or a review of arrangements for buses operating under the scheme, describing it as merely a road accident.
He said a driver had suddenly taken a turn on the road, prompting the driver of one bus to swerve sharply to avoid him. By coincidence, another bus operating under the same pilgrimage scheme was approaching from the opposite direction, resulting in the collision.
The accident claimed the lives of four pilgrims and a woman riding a motorcycle, while 11 others were injured.
Mann said several of the injured had sustained head injuries and fractures. Doctors treating them had informed him that all the injured were out of danger.
Defending the arrangements under the scheme, the chief minister said more than 3,000 pilgrims benefit from the facility every day through around 70 buses.
He added that more than seven lakh pilgrims had completed their journeys through 17,000 trips undertaken by these buses, and said no such accident had occurred previously.
