Focus only on buses, smaller vehicles packed with kids escape scrutiny

Tribune News Service

Parveen Arora

Karnal/Kaithal, April 12

After the tragic accident involving a Mahendragarh school bus that resulted in the death of six children and injuries to 22 students on the Kanina-Dadri road on Thursday, concerns about student safety have surfaced in Karnal and Kaithal districts also.

Overloading common

Though buses do undergo scrutiny, most of the three-wheelers, vans, jeeps and other such vehicles involved in ferrying students remain unchecked, despite reports of overloading and other safety violations

Responsibility of checking with multiple authorities

• The Karnal district has nearly 1,400 school buses.
• Responsibility for vehicle checks lies with multiple authorities, including the Regional Transport Authority, police, Education Department and the Sub-Divisional Magistrates.
• In Gharaunda, officials impounded six school buses.
• Meanwhile, in Kaithal district, during special checks initiated on Friday, 13 buses ferrying schoolchildren were challaned/impounded.
• Parents said school buses often had restricted routes, forcing them to rely on alternative modes of transportation for their children

Sources said the authorities, during inspections, focused only on school buses, while overlooking the potential risks in other vehicles involved in the pick-and-drop service for students, including three-wheelers, vans, jeeps, etc.

“Though buses still undergo scrutiny, but most of the three-wheelers, vans, jeeps and other such vehicles involved in ferrying students remain unchecked, despite obvious overloading in them, apart from other safety violations,” said a source.

Parents said the school buses often had restricted routes, forcing them to rely on alternative modes of transportation for their children.

The lack of checks on these vehicles raises serious safety concerns, particularly when some of them are ferrying students beyond their capacity.

The sources claimed that the Karnal district had nearly 1,400 school buses. Responsibility for vehicle checks falls under multiple authorities, including the Regional Transport Authority (RTA), police, Education Department and the Sub-Divisional Magistrates (SDMs). However, no ‘special’ inspection was conducted in Karnal district on Friday even after the incident in Mahendragarh.

“We conduct inspections of school buses regularly and notices are issued to concerned schools’ authorities if any discrepancies are found,” said Vijay Deswal, secretary RTA, Karnal.

Karnal Deputy Commissioner Uttam Singh made it clear that all vehicles involved in ferrying students will be checked, for which directions had been given to the officials concerned.

Meanwhile, in Kaithal district, a checking campaign for school buses was initiated on Friday. Girish Chawla, secretary of RTA, Kaithal, who formed a special team for this purpose, said, “During the inspection today, 13 buses, including 12 private school buses and one government bus ferrying schoolchildren, were challaned and impounded.”

Meanwhile, a parents’ association demanded that the government should ensure a safety audit of every vehicle that is involved in ferrying school students.

Naveen Aggarwal, former general secretary of Abhibhavak Ekta Sangh Karnal, stressed the need for strict implementation of norms.

Surakshit School Vahan Policy

• The school buses/vehicles should be painted in ‘yellow’ colour with a strip of dark blue paint
• These should have reflective tapes at front, rear and across the length of the body
• The words ‘School Bus’ must be written on the back and front. If it is a hired bus, ‘On School Duty’ should be indicated.
• These should possess a proper permit, the certificate of fitness and insurance certificate.
• The driver should have at least five years of driving experience.
• He should not have been challaned more than three times for traffic violations.
• The vehicles should have a conductor or an attendant, who is trained to handle young children.
• The vehicle should not exceed the speed of 50 km per hour.
• Children are to be dropped inside the boundary wall of the school.
• These vehicles should carry a board showing the name of the school, routes and timings.
• The conductors and drivers should be subjected to refresher courses by the transport authorities
• The drivers should be subjected to a medical fitness test once in 3 years.
• All drivers and conductors of the educational vehicles should wear proper uniform and name plate.
• Vehicles should not carry children in excess of 1.5 times of its registered seating capacity.
• These should not have tinted glasses, curtains.
• All educational vehicles should carry a first-aid box and a fire extinguisher
• These vehicles should have CCTV cameras in buses with the storage of footage for 15 days.
• After April 1, 2014, any new vehicle should be registered by the concerned Registering Authority after ensuring that GPS has been fitted in the vehicle.

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