Kathmandu. A high-level meeting was held under the chairmanship of Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal regarding the bus accident that took place last night in Dhading.

A meeting attended by Minister Aryal, Secretary at the Ministry Raj Kumar Shrestha, Secretary at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Keshav Kumar Sharma, chiefs of security bodies and office-bearers of Federation of National Transport Entrepreneurs also paid tribute to the loss of lives and wished for speedy recovery of the injured.

The meeting has also decided to give priority to the treatment of the injured and make them effective, to form an accident probe committee to find out the truth about the incident and to submit a report soon and implement it as soon as possible. The meeting also decided to make the regulation of the transport sector more effective and make the regulatory body and the bus entrepreneurs’ committee responsible.

A decision has been taken to strictly enforce the law and make transport entrepreneurs, bus drivers and helpers responsible for minimizing road accidents in the coming days.

Expressing sorrow over the loss of lives in road accidents, Home Minister Aryal directed the bodies concerned to give priority to the rescue and treatment of people. Drawing the attention of bodies concerned to prevent recurrence of such incidents in the coming days, he directed for the effective implementation of the laws related to road safety and their strict regulation.

He directed to bring the culprits of the accident to book. Pointing out the risk of big human road accidents adding to the security of the election at a time when the election security has to be tightened, he urged all the stakeholders to be alert and act responsibly on time.

Minister Aryal said, “There should not be any negligence on the safety of roads and citizens. Impunity will not be forgiven to anyone. Therefore, all bodies should be responsible to strengthen road safety. According to him, various investigation committees and study reports related to road accidents would be implemented, and traffic management, road regulation and monitoring would be made effective.

Spokesperson at the Ministry, Ananda Kafle, said that they have drawn the attention of the bodies concerned to ensure treatment to the injured. The meeting also decided to make all the stakeholders active and responsible to make the transport management safe and effective by taking into consideration security sensitivities during the election.

The bus (Ga 2 Kha 1421) en route to Kathmandu from Pokhara plunged into the Trishuli River at 1.30 am this morning, killing 17 people on the spot while two others were undergoing treatment while 25 others are undergoing treatment in Kathmandu, according to police.