Police impound 18 school vehicles in in Palwal, Faridabad

Palwal, April 15

In the ongoing drive against the vehicles ferrying the schoolchildren, the authorities today issued challans to 323 vehicles and impounded 18 in Palwal and Faridabad districts.

The Palwal police issued challans to 212 school vehicles on Monday. They also impounded 15 vehicles on the fourth day of the drive.

A spokesperson of the Police Department said among the challans issued today, 121 were issued to school buses and 76 to private vans deployed to ferry students in the district.

Additionally, seven buses and eight vans were impounded on charges of violation of mandatory norms laid by the state government under the Surakshit School Vahan Policy, he added.

He said a penalty amounting to Rs 1.28 lakh was imposed on the school vehicles today. Of these, a majority of the buses and vans lacked safety measures such as CCTV cameras, first-aid boxes and fire extinguishers. Besides, some of these vehicles were found to be overloaded at the time of checking by the traffic police.

The spokesperson said the drivers of the buses and other vehicles being used to ferry school students were being warned against the consumption of liquor or any other intoxication material while driving. The use of speed governors and presence of conductors and attendants would be ensured during this drive, he said.

Meanwhile, the Faridabad police issued challans to 111 school buses on Monday. The also impounded three other vehicles under the drive, which was launched following the Mahendragarh mishap, that had claimed six lives on April 11.

The police have said diesel and petrol buses that are more than 10 and 15 years old, respectively, would not be allowed to ply on the city roads.

Conditions like the installation of CCTV cameras, training drivers, fitness of vehicles, presence of female assistant, dress code of staff, speed governors and proper number plate are mandatory for all school vehicles, the police emphasised.