KAMAREDDY: If not for the tragic outcome, the incident at Sawargaon village would have seemed like yet another example of how rural Telangana relies on everyday improvisations in school transport.
Autos, after all, have become the unofficial school buses of the countryside — a lifeline of self-employment for rural youth and a transport solution for students in villages where government schools offer no vehicles and private school buses rarely reach.
Parents trust local drivers, believing the familiarity of a village face translates into a safer journey.
Every academic year begins with police and RTA staff conducting strict vehicle checks to curb overload and violations. Yet somewhere between the opening week and the remaining months, the checks loosen, the vigilance thins and the autos return to their crowded routines.
When the departments do intervene, drivers say the response is largely limited to penalties rather than fixing the systemic vacuum that leaves autos as the only viable option.
On most days, thorough inspections during school hours are rare, leaving students to navigate a transport system held together by mutual understanding between parents and drivers rather than official oversight.
Sub Inspector K Naveen Chandra of Jukkal Police Station maintains that they routinely conduct inspections and awareness programmes to address traffic rules and prevent overload.
Auto drivers, however, paint a different story, stating that parents willingly send their children in these packed vehicles.