250 school buses in Gurugram found ‘unsafe’, served notice

Sumedha Sharma

Gurugram, August 24

As many as 250 schools in the city have been found lacking in safe transportation for students. Schools — which seek exorbitant transport fee — have been found lacking on various parameters including installation and maintenance of records of CCTV, GPS tracker activation, tinted windows and even hiring of criminal background drivers despite the police highlighting the same in their verification.

The schools in addition to being served notices and called for a ‘awareness’ workshop have been asked to put things in order in the next 15 days or face penalty.

According to DC Nishant Yadav, majority of buses of high-end schools either had malfunctioning CCTVs or the recordings were synchronised to drivers’ phones who would often delete it as per their convenience. Many parents had even objected to the access of drivers and support staff to this footage.

“In case of many complaints, it is the driver and his support staff which is accountable. But as the CCTV footage was in the driver’s phone, he would often delete it. So the schools have been asked to ensure that all CCTVs are working. Only the school authority should have access to the footage and should maintain its secrecy,” said Nishant Yadav.

Many schools buses — despite repeated reminders and notices — did not have GPS trackers or speed governors. Those who have it switch on the trackers in the morning and afternoon though the administration has mandated 24-hour tracking to ensure buses are neither misused nor do they violate traffic norms.

Many schools are yet to get bus staff verification done or are turning a blind eye to the results. As a result, drivers with FIRs against them or a history of violations are being hired.

Many AC buses, in violation of the Motor Vehicles Act, have installed tinted black glass. This was raised as a major security concern by many parents. The schools insisted that these helped in better cooling in summers, but the administration has asked them to install better ACs.

The schools have been asked to install anti-fall rods on all windows to ensure that children do not fall off in case of a collision. Many school buses were found without proper first-aid kit or had expired medical items. Many are still running without functional fire-fighting equipment. “Sad but true, a survey by the SDM revealed that over 250 schools have violations. We have made them aware many times but now, we have called them and issued the last warning. A survey will be conducted in the next 15 days and then, we will go for criminal action against them,” added Yadav.