Taking lessons from frequent road mishaps, especially the recent one where a school bus driver recklessly drove the bus over the road divider at Kadru Overbridge, the district administration is gearing up to conduct rigorous checking drive of school buses from Tuesday.
According to Traffic SP, Sanjay Ranjan Singh besides imposing penalty on the drivers for drunk and driving case and violating the basic traffic rules, the traffic police officers have been instructed to impose fine on the
irresponsible drivers under the school bus safety guidelines as well.
As per the complaints filed by the different parent association groups including the decision made by the district administration officials, it has been made mandatory for all school bus drivers to have fitness permits, first-aid kits, fire extinguishers inside school buses. No school buses can overload more than its capacity considering the size of the buses. All the school bus drivers including bus conductors will also have to be in proper uniform while plying school buses on different routes.
“In the recent meeting, all the Traffic DSPs have been instructed to be present on the spot. The traffic department officials have also demarcated few major snag spots. This time, school buses plying without permits will be seized immediately. An advisory has already been sent to all the school managements,” added the Traffic SP.
According to the apex court guidelines, drivers with more than five years’ heavy vehicle driving experience would be only eligible to ferry school children, any driver booked twice for traffic-related offences must be immediately debarred from the service. Even the school buses could not exceed the set 40 km per hour speed limit as set by court and different school boards.
Besides, the Supreme Court had also directed a series of preventive measures ranging from keeping first-aid box in buses to mounting fire extinguishers insides buses. As per the norms, buses doors must be fitted with proper lock, horizontal parallel grills on windows. It had also made it mandatory for a supervisor, deputed by the school to accompany the children.
However, despite issuing guidelines time and again to the school managements most often the rules are infringed. Ranchi DC, Manoj Kumar said that despite attempting hard, it becomes difficult for the administration to crack down school buses breaching the guidelines.
“We take action at regular intervals but it becomes difficult to take action seeking the all the basic guidelines sometimes. We have also detained few buses in the past especially in overloading cases. Penalty is imposed as per the Motor Vehicle Act only,” said Kumar.