ADILABAD: During the inspection of school buses conducted in the backdrop of the horrific accident at Masaipet village in Medak district on Thursday in which 14 children and their school bus driver and cleaner were killed in collision with a speeding train at an unmanned level crossing, it was found that several drivers were still using mobile phones while driving among other several violations of norms including overloading of buses with students, and rash and negligent driving. According to a source, there are more than 2.50 lakh vehicles of all types in the district and 35,000 of them are not fit to run on the road but are being operated. They include private school buses, autorickshaws, jeeps and governmentrun RTC buses. Most of these vehicles have completed their life time of 15 years and some are in a dilapidated condition. According to officials, there are more than 900 private schools and 2.50 lakh students in the district, most of them in Mancherial, Nirmal and Adilabad towns. There are hundreds of buses carrying students from the surrounding villages to the schools and back. More than 900 buses and vans have fitness certificate issued recently. Buses number 677. It is learnt that 49 buses do not have fitness certificates _ 26 in Mancherial, 18 in Nirmal 18 and five Adilabad and other places. Twenty-four school buses are in bad condition. Not a single school management follows the rules and regulations and RTA officials turn a blind eye to the violations, either taking bribes or coming under political pressure since most of the private and corporate schools are being run by politicians or their families. Members of the parents’ committee should also take responsibility. They have to inspect the buses and inform the principal if they find anything wrong. In case there is no response, then they must complaint in the RTA officials and police. Speaking with Express, incharge deputy transport commissioner Raja Rathnam claims that they are conducting inspections at regular intervals, and filing cases.
RTA norms
1 School management must obtain fitness certificate from the Road Transport Authority, 2 Light and heavy motor vehicle drivers need five years’ experience to drive school buses, 3 A school bus driver must be aged below 60 years. In case a driver aged above 60 years is to be appointed, his health condition must be checked, 4 Fire safety and medical equipment boxes must be available in the buses, 5 The school’s name and full address with phone number must be written clearly on the front and back of the buses, 6 The names of students travelling in the buses must be submitted for obtaining permission for running a school bus RTA Norms