School buses in dock after Mahendragarh mishap

Sanjay Yadav

Gurugram, April 12

Over 2,700 buses of 500 private schools in the district have been summoned for verification at five designated locations.

A special team, comprising of Regional Transport Authority (RTA) officials, police personnel and the HCS officials, will check if the buses are complying with the mandate of Surakshit Vahan Policy.

The RTA officials will inspect the documents and registration details of the vehicles, while the police will look into the driver’s credentials. A comprehensive checking campaign will be conducted on April 13 and 14.

Meanwhile, 45 buses were checked on Friday in a joint drive launched by the district administration and the police. Challans were issued to 16 buses for not following rules, while 11 were impounded for not meeting fitness standards.

The RTA office has asked the transport managers of all private schools to perform the breathalyser test on all bus drivers when they start on a round. The traffic police have also started a special campaign to inspect school buses today.

RTA Secretary Gajender Singh said transport managers at schools must submit a daily report of the breathalyzer test of the bus drivers to the department.

“We have started an awareness campaign in private schools to spread awareness about road safety rules. The driving licences of bus drivers are also being checked and even students are being made aware about road safety,” said Gajender Singh.

According to the RTA Department, a total of 2,731 buses of about 500 schools were registered with the authority in the district.

In the last three months, the department has checked the fitness of 150 school buses and issued challans for the violation of road safety standards. As many as 193 buses were passed while 200 buses did not get their fitness renewal even after two years and after they were issued notices. The department has formed a committee to ensure compliance with the road safety standards in the buses.

Meanwhile, the Gurugram traffic police had issued 308 challans for school buses. Today, many teams of the traffic police conducted a special campaign in the city and issued challans to 16 school buses.

“All the buses of the private schools of the district are called for checking their documents on Saturday,” said Virender Vij, DCP traffic.

“The teams of traffic police and RTA will be verifying their documents at five designated locations — Tau Devilal Stadium, leisure valley park ground, and Mini-Secretariats in Gurugram, Pataudi and Devilal stadium in Sohna. After this we will start a special checking from Monday and if any school bus driver is found flouting norms, strict action will be taken against the offender,” added the DCP.

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