Nagpur: The Nagpur District School Bus Safety Committee headed by Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar on Wednesday held its first meeting, almost two months after city schools reopened for the current academic session, according to a report in a local English daily.
The report said that 40% of school buses are plying without fitness certificates. The panel set a September 15 deadline for transporters and educational institutions to comply with safety rules. Joint Commissioner of Police Aswati Dorje, DCP (Traffic) Sarang Awad, Deputy RTO Ravindra Bhuyar, Assistant RTOs Sneha Medhe, Harshal Dake among others were present.
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According to the report, it was brought to the committee’s notice that despite strict guidelines, vehicles ferrying children were violating safety norms. Not only buses and vans, even auto-rickshaws ferrying children were compromising on the safety of the children. The panel unanimously decided to authorize principals and headmasters to check whether the vehicles ferrying children comply with road safety rules or not. Schools have also been asked to ensure that no vehicle is overcrowded and that all follow mandatory seating capacity norms, the report added.
The Commissioner of Police directed that if any school bus, van and auto-rickshaw driver is found transporting students beyond capacity, the traffic police should act against such drivers only after the vehicles drop students safely. After issuing notice for corrective measures, strict action should be taken against those who are transporting more students than permissible, the Top Cop said.
It also came to fore that despite making it mandatory to form transport committees, most schools have not yet complied with the directive. All schools have been asked to comply with the norms and the education department has been asked to check whether institutions are following the orders or not.
According to the report, traffic experts, however, expressed anguish over the panel conducting the meeting after a two-month delay. Such meetings should be held well before starting of new academic sessions, they said, adding that recently an overcrowded van met with an accident after it fell into a nullah in Beltarodi. Fortunately, no casualty was reported.
