‘MTech student falls off PMPML bus, run over by overtaking school vehicle’, (TOI, Aug 25, 2026)
Kanchan Balwant Khadda (25), a second-year MTech student at DIAT, died on Aug 24 after falling from the front door of a moving Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd (PMPML) bus while travelling to a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratory in Dighi for an academic practical session. Spread over around 500 acres, the campus currently hosts about 1,300 students, including foreign students, besides faculty members, employees and visitors. Its buses were involved in 61 accidents in 2024-25, resulting in 24 deaths, according to data released by the transport utility. In 2025-26, 43 accidents involving PMPML buses claimed 25 lives. Between April and Aug this year, 23 such accidents resulted in 11 deaths.
Due to very low bus frequency, students and employees face considerable inconvenience.
We have requested an increase in the frequency of buses connecting the Girinagar campus with major city bus stations,” Amarjeet Devidas, assistant registrar at DIAT, told TOI . Institute officials said DIAT has been functioning from its Girinagar campus near Khadakwasla for nearly six decades. Officials said student enrolment in various programmes has increased significantly in recent years, while the movement of faculty, employees and visitors has also grown. PMPML should consider our demand properly and increase frequency on the route,” a DIAT professor said, choosing anonymity. A research student said overcrowding had become a routine problem for those using public transport. It would provide major relief to students and staff,” the student said.
Pune: The Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT) has sought an increase in bus frequency to its remote Girinagar campus, located around 30km from the city, days after one of its students died after falling from a crowded PMPML bus on Sinhagad Road. She came under the wheels of a school bus travelling alongside the PMPML vehicle. The incident has brought into focus public transport difficulties faced by students, faculty and employees commuting between the campus and Pune city. “Public transport connectivity with the city is inadequate. But public transport services to the campus have not increased proportionately, forcing many commuters to depend on private vehicles or other modes of transport. They added that improved bus connectivity would provide students and employees with a safer and more reliable commuting option, while reducing their dependence on private transport. The demand assumes significance as Khadda was travelling to a DRDO facility as part of her academic work when the fatal accident occurred. She had completed her engineering degree from IIT-BHU and was pursuing an MTech in semiconductor chip design at DIAT. “Hundreds of students travel to DRDO labs and other institutes across the city for academic work. The inadequate transport connectivity is a major concern for us. It is a matter of their safety outside the campus. “Public transport is extremely poor and we travel in crowded buses daily. Travelling to and from the city is painful. PMPML should run dedicated buses to our campus, similar to the services available for the National Defence Academy (NDA). The accident has also renewed concerns over the safety of PMPML buses. DIAT, an autonomous organisation under the Union ministry of defence, conducts postgraduate and doctoral programmes in defence technology and provides specialised training to personnel from defence-related organisations.
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Yashwant Hinge, chief transport manager of PMPML, told TOI ,“We have adequate buses on the route till Khalapur. However, if the institute has demanded dedicated buses, we will look into it positively. Download the TOI App.