India, June 4 -- From accidents and breakdowns to buses catching fire, BEST buses are in a dire condition today. According to BEST sources, in May itself, there were at least 10 different instances where BEST buses were involved in accidents; as for fatal accidents, 48 of these have been recorded in the last two years.

The fatalities were more in the wet-lease buses hired by BEST, said a BEST official. "We are focusing on two aspects: preventive measures and inspection of technical problems," he said. "We have made a four-week training of wet-lease drivers on CNG and electric buses mandatory. We have also begun inspecting the CNG buses after the recent incidents of them catching fire."

Sonia Sethi, general manager of BEST, said they had...