School buses in Navi Mumbai, Kalyan and Panvel have come under the scanner of the road transport authorities. Over 40 school buses in these areas, including eight buses in Navi Mumbai, have been penalised for violating safety norms on the last day of the school.
The operators of these buses were charged for not following the safety norms for school buses laid down by the government. The school buses did not have fire extinguishers or first aid boxes, the windows were unsafe and the buses were in an overall beaten down condition, claimed the transport authorities.
Sanjay Raut, deputy regional transport officer (Navi Mumbai), said, “The buses were given memos as they did not have the necessary safety gear required by the bus safety norms. We collected a total fine of around Rs34, 400 from these errant bus operators. It is mandatory that they follow these safety measures.’’
In Kalyan, the transport authorities have started checking private vehicles such as vans which are used to ferry schoolchildren to school and back. Over 20 such vehicles have been seized over the last few days. Sanjay Dole, deputy regional transport officer (Kalyan), said, “We have sent memos to 25 schools about the safety norms that they need to follow in their school buses. But we have not seized any school bus yet so as not to inconvenience students and parents. We have also conducted three awareness seminars on school bus safety norms. We have been cracking down on private vehicles carrying schoolchildren.”
However, school bus operators have cried foul over this drastic action taken by the transport authorities. “Over 100 buses have been suspended over the past few days. They have
deliberately targeted the bus operators on the last working day of the schools. Now their permit has been suspended for seven days. Bus contractors will not be able to run their buses for other purposes while the schools are closed. The political parties and transport authorities together are targeting school buses. These operators were given memos for not following the seven points that we are against in the safety norms. Despite calling a one-day strike, the government is still not willing to listen to us over the implementation of this policy,’’ said Anil Garg, president of the School Bus Owners Association.
