BENGALURU: The Transport Department on Wednesday cancelled fitness certificate of all the 21 BMTC buses, which were booked on December 7 for carrying school children without complying with Supreme Court safety guidelines.
The action was taken in the wake of another incident where 52 school students miraculously escaped from a BMTC bus after it caught fire on December 3.
Transport officials told Express that the fitness certificates of the buses ferrying students of Vidyaniketan School on Ullal Road near Mallathahalli have been cancelled.
“We gave BMTC three days time to rectify the mistakes and to comply with Supreme Court safety norms. But they were reluctant to even reply to the show cause notice.
They continued to ferry school children, ignoring the safety guidelines,” said a senior Transport Department official, adding managing director and principal of the school have been informed about the cancellation of the fitness certificates of these buses.
“BMTC should not use the vehicles until they have proper safety measures in place. Certificates will be cleared only after all the safety norms are met,” he said.
Officials said most of the 21 BMTC buses were poorly maintained and ferrying students without first-aid box, fire extinguisher, damaged seats, broken windshields, side safety grills and CCTV cameras.
When contacted, Ekroop Caur, managing director of BMTC said all the buses ferrying students are following Supreme Court safety guidelines. “We have neither violated the norms nor compromised on the safety of students,” he said. BMTC operates more than 200 buses for over 40 private schools across the city.