With the extended deadline for installing emergency doors in luxury private and KSRTC buses ending on April 30, the officials of Transport department have launched a drive to check buses plying without the mandatory exit doors.

The officials in Dakshina Kannada on Saturday seized 10 buses that do not have an emergency doors as mandated in wake of accidents involving Volvo buses in Karnataka.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, RTO Afzal Ahmed Khan said that of the 10 seized buses, one is a KSRTC bus. In fact, on May 1, a total of 18 cases were booked for failing to install emergency doors.

“The seized buses will be detained for one day and an undertaking will be taken from the bus owners that emergency doors will be fitted. The owners will have to give the address of the garage where the emergency doors will be fitted and after installing the emergency door, it will be inspected by the officials and documents related to the bueses will be handed over back to the bus owners,” he said.

The officials said the drive will continue in the coming days, till all the luxury buses comply with the rules.

The department had announced that no buses would be allowed to ply after April 30, if they did not install emergency doors.

In fact, the bus operators were told to instal the emergency exits at a reasonable height on the side of the bus.

The directive comes following two incidents of Volvo buses catching fire, which led to the death of 52 passengers on-board.