KOCHI: The clarion call by the Motor Vehicles Department and Police to the schools and drivers to ensure safety while ferrying students seems to have fallen on deaf ears. Even after the Maradu incident, which claimed four lives including of three kids after a school van plunged into a pond, drivers continue to be reckless and careless when it comes to following rules and guidelines.
In the latest incident, as many as six students of a private school at Kakkanad had a narrow escape when the van they were travelling in skidded off the road and slid precariously into a canal near Thrikkakara on Tuesday morning. The local people who rushed to spot helped the kids, who were on their way to school, get down from the vehicle.
Ernakulam Regional Transport Officer Reji P Varghese said the driver’s licence has been suspended for one year. “It was around 8 am when the incident took place. The driver lost control of the vehicle. They were all lucky the vehicle didn’t fell into the Periyar Valley canal which is filled up to its brim,” said Varghese.