If the assurances given by the district transport authorities are to be believed, school buses running for 15 years or more will soon be a thing of past. Complying with the Supreme Court guidelines, schools buses running for 15 years or more will soon be taken off the streets, claimed district transport officials and school bus operators.
“We have notified school authorities to ground the buses which have operating for more than 15 years. A report regarding the compliance of the apex court guidelines is expected in ten days time. We have conducted time-to-time inspections to make sure that all school buses are safe to travel in for students and the findings have been satisfactory,” informed District Transport Officer Nagendra Paswan.
District transport authorities spurred the process after several schools of Ranchi were found to be running rickety buses without functional fire extinguishers or first-aid kits and missing paperwork, despite the apex court guidelines.
“Almost three-fourth of the 150 school buses which is 15 year old or more have been taken off the streets already. The rest will be withdrawn within the stipulated time period. Also, almost every school bus is equipped with the required safety measures and has up-to-date paperwork, the exceptions are very few,” said Uday Shankar Ojha, school bus operator.
But the parents concerned about the safety of their wards still cannot breathe easy. “We having been demanding action against rickety schools buses since 2008 but not much has been done in this regard. We submitted memorandums regarding the issue to every Deputy Commissioner posted in Ranchi for all these years, but in vain. I still doubt that old school buses can be replaced within the stipulated ten days,” said Ajay Rai, president, Abhibhavak Manch, Ranchi.