Bhubaneswar: A day after the episode in which 19 travelers were killed in a road mishap in which 19 individuals were killed and 46 others were seriously harmed, Transport Commissioner Chandrasekhar Kumar today said the Regional Transport Officer (RTO) has presented a preliminary report on the mishap saying that the incident occurred because of the carelessness of the driver who was conversing with his cell phone while driving the vehicle.

Briefing media persons here today, he said steps have been taken to bring down the incident of road accident in Odisha. “The Supreme Court has directed the state government to bring down the number of accidents in the state by 20 percent by 2020”, he added.

He informed that a meeting of the bus and truck owners is scheduled on Monday in which emphasis would be given on overloading and over-sitting. “Apart from this, a decision would be taken to ban drunk driving and talking with mobile phones while driving”, he pointed out.