COIMBATORE:Buses run by private schools for their students are much safer than auto-rickshaws and vans that transport children, but the latter are affordable, say those in the field.
In 2014-15, most private schools in the city increased bus charges by 10 percent, said R Manimohan, chairman, Students Welfare Association of Parents. “But parents opt for buses to ensure safety. They take
the kids to the school premises. Also, most schools follow the Transport Department’s safety guidelines,” he added.
Chandrasekar, president of Parents and Teachers Association, Nirmala Matha School, said there was not much difference between the bus charges of different schools, though these are fixed by each on its own.
If bus charges are not reasonable, parents will not use them, pointed out R Visalakshi, president of Tamil Nadu Private Schools Association. “No school compels parents to use the service. They prefer buses only if the safety arrangements are good and the charges reasonable,” she said.
“Schools’ adherence to safety measures is 100 percent. We continuously monitor all the buses, ensure that drivers are not drunk, do not use cell phones while driving, and follow the speed limit. Accidents that took place are entirely because of external factors, like other speeding vehicles,” she added.
Safety is not the first concern for auto-rickshaws and vans.
“Every day I see overloaded autos, sometimes carrying more than one child on both sides of the driver’s seat. There should be more frequent checks,” said Chandrasekaran.
“Most autos carry more students than rules allow. They also let bags hang outside. This is risky for the children and for other vehicles. But parents compromise as charges are low. If someone insists on fewer kids being carried, the auto operator would raise the charge, which other parents would oppose,” says Manimohan.
V Deivendran, district secretary, Student Welfare Association of Parents, said, “Autos charge Rs 300-500 per child for 3 km. Buses charge double or three times this. So, families with lower incomes prefer autos and vans.”
S Arumainathan, state president of Tamil Nadu Student Parents’ Welfare Association, agrees with the ‘buses are safer, autos are cheaper’ theory. “Buses are safer as government officials regularly check them, but autos violate rules. But bus fees are around Rs 10,000 for a child per year,” he pointed out.
He said the government should run special buses for school children. “We have made many representations on the issue, but the results are not encouraging,” he added.
‘Intensive Vehicle Checks After Schools Reopen’
The Transport Department has ordered all Regional Transport Officers (RTO) to inspect school buses and ensure that they follow the 16 conditions stipulated under the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicles (Regulation and Control of School Buses) Special Rules, 2012.
To be checked are accessibility to entrance and exit points, firmness of handrails, door locks, height of footboards, grilled partition for driver’s cabin, firmness of seats, thickness of floor boards, size of windows, emergency exit, first-aid box, fire extinguisher and the vehicle’s yellow colour.
A district-level committee has been formed to inspect the 1,265 buses of 284 private schools in Coimbatore district. It includes V Lalitha, DSP, District Crime Records Bureau, S Peralathan, Assistant Commissioner (CRB), Narmaadha, PA (General) to Collector and the respective Regional Transport Officer.
The committee will meet on Monday when the date of inspection of vehicles under each RTO will be fixed, said S Munusamy, RTO (South).
After fixing the dates, notices would be sent to the schools to bring the buses to a place the RTO stipulates. “It needs four days as there are four RTOs in the city to complete the inspection,” he added. A report has to be submitted to the government by the end of May.
Though parents and activists blame RTOs and the Traffic police for the poor safety of auto-rickshaws that carry schoolchildren, the authorities deny the charges and claim that they have been conducting regular checks on school buses as well as autos. “The vehicles are checked daily. We detained 198 autos this year for various reasons. They include autos carrying schoolchildren for carrying more than specified number of students. We will strengthen our checks when the schools reopen,” said P Muruganandam, Joint Transport Commissioner, Coimbatore.
They also inspect school buses regularly. “We have ensured 100 per cent safety of private school buses. The fitness certificates of those violating standards will be cancelled immediately,” said Muruganandam.
Raj Khanna, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Traffic (West) said the police take action whenever they see autos flouting norms.
“We cannot dedicate staff to check whether autos are violating norms. However, police take action whenever they see them carrying more passengers than allowed. We are booking at least four cases per day for this particular violation,” he added.