3 injured as truck collides with school van

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 17

Four persons were injured today in a head on collision between a school van and a truck on the Mansa Road near Maur due to dense fog in the morning. Three persons, including two students and the driver of the school van, were injured.

This incident has raised a question mark on the safety of the students travelling to schools everyday in buses. The ride to school in the city seems to be unsafe as buses of several private schools are flouting the traffic norms, which may result in tragedy.

The overloaded private auto-rickshaws, school buses and vans are seen frequently plying on roads.

Children popping their heads out of the bus windows, crossing roads without a supervisor or attendant, bus drivers on duty without uniforms and over-speeding on the roads are just a few of the irregularities.

According to the traffic police, only some of the school buses adhere to the norms laid down by the Supreme Court.

Stringent guidelines have been put in place by the apex court for the school buses, according to which it is essential to write “school bus” on the front and back of the bus.

The name of the school and telephone number should also be visible while the doors must have reliable locks. If it is a hired bus, “On school duty”, should be clearly indicated.

Buses must have a first-aid box, windows must be fitted with horizontal grills, a fire extinguisher must be available and an attendant from the school must be present in the vehicle.

But in reality, the scenario is completely different. Though the school managements take a huge amount in the name of bus fee, they fail to ensure most of the safety arrangements.

The authorities have not been able to rein in erring vehicles, especially auto-rickshaws that continue to load too many passengers. Besides, school vans are in poor condition and are being operated by inexperienced drivers.

Despite of the fact that the administration held a series of meetings with the city schools over the issue in the past, school buses continue to violate traffic norms.

Several children and their parents now allege that the students are stuffed into school buses and vans like cattle and nothing has been done by the school managements despite repeated complaints.

Manpreet Kaur, mother of a student, said as she came to make her children board the bus, she spotted the driver speeding in the morning. She pointed this out to the driver who said he had to reach the school on time.

It was also a matter of concern that many buses and vans involved in carrying school students were battered.

The slack attitude of school authorities, Transport Department and the traffic police authorities has resulted in recurrence of such incidents.

Rajiv Kumar, father of a student, said it was strange that semi-literate drivers were always held responsible for violations but the school managements shirked the responsibility of keeping a tab on violations by drivers.

Meanwhile, officials in the district transport office said according to the Transport Department norms, drivers operating school buses or vans should possess heavy vehicle licences with a minimum 10-year driving experience.

The guidelines emphasise that buses and vans should not be loaded with students beyond the stipulated seating capacity, but these vehicles continue to defy this norm, said Swaran Singh, father of a school student.

The PSEB while granting approval for affiliation and the category of associated schools, sought submission of affidavits containing 16 rules from the principals of these schools.

However, sources in the department said officials hardly bother to keep a tab on these norms and only ensured that these schools submit the affidavit once a year.