Packed like sardines, they go to school

Bijendra Ahlawat

The ferrying of a large number of schoolchildren is being done in a risky and unsafe manner in Faridabad, as a large number of vans (private vehicles) are operating on CNG, which is fitted in an unauthorised manner. 

Overloading of students in such vans has also become a menace and pose a threat to their lives, it is claimed.

“The spurt in CNG-operated vans and vehicles for ferrying schoolchildren has been a cause for concern, as many of these have been found to be ‘violating’ the regulations regarding the safety of passengers. The authorities concerned are yet to implement a plan to regulate such vehicles,” claims SK Sharma, district coordinator, Road Safety Organisation (RSO) here. 

“In the absence of school buses or inadequate transportation provided by many schools, hundreds of vans are being operated by private persons, who tend to ignore the safety norms,” he said.

Sources in the RSO claimed that the number of CNG vans was around 2,000 at present, besides several other vehicles engaged in ferrying students or passengers had also been converted to CNG to save the fuel cost and earn good profit. The fitment cost of CNG in the market ranges between Rs 16,000 and Rs 2,500, it is claimed.

The main cause for concern is that minor students are not only made to sit on the bench kept exactly over the gas cylinder, but the number of occupants in such a van is around 10 to 15 at one time, making it all the more risky, due to acute overloading. It is reported that while a majority of such vehicles get CNG kit fitted from local workshops and dealers, they hardly posses the fitment certificate or authorisation certificate from the department concerned and thus pose a danger to the safety of not only students, but also to other commuters, as driving has been found to be rash in many cases. 

“The police or the authorities concerned launch a drive against unauthorised vehicles only for a few days or for a week in the event of an accident,” said Rani Dua, a member of the RSO here.

Alleging rash driving by a majority of such vans, Pinaki Ranjan, a local resident, said many drivers put the lives of small children at risk, as they do not follow traffic rules to reach school on time during peak hours in the morning and at noon. “There is no cop posted at any important intersection to keep a tab on violation of rules,” he said. Charging the van drivers of not following safety rules, Ajay Chaudhary, another resident, claimed that many times CNG is refilled while children are still inside the van.

As a van is allowed to carry only six to eight passengers at a time, a vehicle which gets CNG kit fitted from outside (market) needs to get it registered with the department concerned again to get the authorisation, which is not done by a majority of such operators, it is reported. 

No data available about unauthorised CNG vehicles 

With no official data about unauthorised CNG vehicles available, an official said the data of factory-fitted CNG vehicles was maintained regularly by the office of the RTA (commercial) and SDM office (private) separately. A total of 60,314 commercial CNG-fitted vehicles have been registered between January 1, 2015, and November 20, 2019, it is reported. The number of private CNG vehicles registered between January 1, 2019, and October 31, 2019, have been 1,538, an official said.

As the ADC Dharmender Singh, who holds the charge of Regional Transport Authority (RTA) was not available, a junior-level official said action is taken against offenders during a routine check of such vehicles.

‘A cause for concern’

The spurt in Compressed natural gas-operated vans and vehicles for ferrying schoolchildren has been a cause for concern, as many of these have been found to be 'violating' the regulations regarding the safety of passengers. The authorities concerned are yet to implement a plan to regulate such vehicles. SK Sharma, District coordinator, Road Safety Organisation

‘Lives of children at risk’

Many drivers put the lives of small children at risk, as they do not follow traffic rules to reach school on time during peak hours in the morning and at noon. There is no cop posted at any important intersection to keep a tab on violation of rules. Pinaki Ranjan, Faridabad resident