The Regional Transport Office found 140 school transport vehicles lacking safety measures during a drive on Tuesday -the first this academic session.
The Regional Transport Office (RTO) officials checked 368 school transport vehicles, including buses, vans and autorickshaws. They confiscated 30 of them for not having fitness certificates or for using private vehicles as school transport.
The drive was initiated at all prominent roads in the city and suburban areas. RTO had deployed 12 teams to check vehicles and issue challans to drivers found violating the norms.
An RTO official said, “Vehicles were found with lapses like not having safety measures inside buses and absence of fitness certifica tes. Some vehicles were found overloaded and plying without attendants. We told the transporters and drivers to make the provisions and reproduce the vehicles for inspections.“
It was learnt during the drive that many schools had not signed the mandatory contract with the transporters. Many drivers claimed that schools were reluctant to sign contracts.
A senior official said, “It is alarming that about 38% vehicles had some fault. We want to make school transport safe and we expect cooperation of transporters, parents and schools.“
Over 2,800 vehicles are involved in school students’ transportation in the city.
TIMES VIEW
Schools and transport vehicle owners are still taking the school bus policy norms lightly, jeopardizing safety of children. The RTO’s drive on Tuesday exposed the use of private vehicles for ferrying students without required permits or fitness certificates and the reluctance of schools to sign contract with the owners of transport vehicles, essential to bring accountability. Several vehicles did not have the mandatory attendant. These are serious lapses and should be dealt with sternly. Owners of these vehicles had enough time during the summer break to comply with the norms. Parents and school authorities, too, must do their bit to ensure compliance.
Source : TOI
