If one is in West Mambalam and wanting to board a share-auto, Veerasamy Street is the unlikeliest of places they would head to. However, on Monday, the share-autos made a beeline for the street, ferrying kids to a school located in it, the SRM Nightingale Matric Higher Secondary School, which had reopened after one-and-half months of summer holidays.
There was a noticeable change in the mode of transportation to the school — while the kids largely came in share-autos, vans vroomed in and out of the school, ostensibly transporting the teaching staff.
The last minute arrivals increased, with parents coming in to drop off their little ones. Thus began yet another academic year.
If share-auto drivers are to be believed, the travel to schools for children has gotten a little more comfortable. Chandiran, a share-auto driver from Virugambakkam, says that their union has introduced air-conditioned share-autos deployed to transport kids to school — starting from a monthly charge of about Rs 700 and upwards, depending on the distance. “Not more than eight kids will be taken on the auto,” he says.
Outside Anjuham School on Jubilee Road, it seemed cycles were the preferred choice for commuting, with a footpath near the school converted into a cycle stand. In addition, autorickshaw drivers were waiting outside these and other schools, such as the Sitaram Vidyalaya on Aryagowda Road and GRT School on Ashok Nagar seventh avenue.
Parents waited outside the schools, not knowing whether it would be a half- or full-day for their tots. One parent, Mala, sought clarity on when she would need to come back to pick up her little daughter.