(Clockwise from top) The tourist bus that fell into a ditch near Dhauli on Thursday evening and Mita Sarkar and Adhir Kumar Biswas, who were injured in the accident. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 10: The state government is planning to stop buses from going up the Dhauli hills and instead use battery-operated vehicles to ferry tourists to the site famous for the international peace pagoda.

The move follows five deaths in three accidents on the hills in the past two years. While a tourist died on the spot and 30 others were seriously injured yesterday when the bus they were in fell into a gorge, in February 2012, two accidents had taken place within two weeks claiming four lives and critically injuring 30 others.

Tourism minister Ashok Chandra Panda told The Telegraph that the state government was thinking about stopping buses from going up the hills near the pagoda. They were thinking about asking heavy vehicles to use the designated parking lot near the renovated pond on the left of the entrance to the Dhauli foothills.

“We are planning to introduce battery-operated vehicles that can ferry tourists from here to the hilltop. The tourism department will also consider introduction of a ropeway,” he said.

In yesterday’s accident, a young engineer from Nadia district in Bengal died on the spot and around 60 passengers were injured. Thirty of the injured passengers were critical. The deceased was on a trip to Puri with his family and friends.

On February 7, 2012, a bus with tourists from Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh fell into a 15-feet ditch near the pagoda. The driver was driving on a road, which was not meant for heavy vehicles.

On February 15 the same year, a tourist bus from Bengal met with an accident, in which all 60 on board got injured. The driver of the bus was manoeuvring the vehicle towards the bank of the Daya river to a private parking lot though the road was not meant for heavy vehicles.

Tourist officer Sashanka Rath said: “The designated parking lot near the renovated pond at the base of the Dhauli hills can be used for parking. If the battery-operated vehicles are not available immediately, small pick-up vans can be used to ferry tourists from the foothills to the pagoda.”

Tour planner Debashish Mohapatra said the safety aspect at the Buddhist site should be a priority for the tourism department. “Officials should go to sites such as Kailash Hills on the coast of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and see how they have developed both a toy train and a ropeway for the tourists to reach the hilltop. This can also be done at Dhauli,” he said.

Another senior tourism official said: “Deployment of security personnel on the Dhauli hills was initiated in 2012. But later, it got disrupted due to issues between the district administration and the local management committee. With the deployment of security guards, vehicular movement could also be streamlined in and around the area.”