Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): School children have been banned from travelling to and from school by e-rickshaw in Bhopal. This rule will come in action from Monday, 21 July.
Collector Kaushlendra Vikram Singh has issued an order banning e-rickshaws considering them unsafe for children.
The order states that e-rickshaws are used to transport students of many schools from home to school. This is unsafe for children. There is a high risk of them overturning. Keeping these facts in mind, the DEO will ask all school operators to stop e-rickshaws. The administration will also keep a close watch.
On Friday, 18 July, Bhopal MP Alok Sharma held a meeting for traffic improvement. In this, Collector Singh had asked to ban e-rickshaws in schools. He had said that it is not right to send small children to school by sitting them in e-rickshaws. After the MP's meeting, the collector also issued orders.
Decision based on police and expert opinion- Collector
Collector Kaushlendra Vikram Singh said that “after the opinion of police and experts in the meetings, a ban has been imposed on bringing children to school in e-rickshaws. There have been no accidents involving school children in e-rickshaws in Bhopal, but accidents have happened in other cities. Therefore, this decision has been taken.”
Other key recommendations which are yet to be implemented include making uniforms and nameplates mandatory for drivers, issuing route-based permits, and restricting e-rickshaws to areas not served by city buses. Officials also emphasized that e-rickshaws impact the flow of high-speed traffic and increase fuel consumption on main roads.
Collector Singh said media persons that with the new order in effect, authorities are expected to strictly monitor and enforce compliance to enhance student safety and improve traffic flow across the city.
More than 12,500 e-rickshaws registered in Bhopal
ACP Traffic Ajay Vajpayee said that at present 12,500 e-rickshaws are registered in Bhopal. Although, these are not attached to schools, but many parents send their children to school in e-rickshaws as per their convenience. We will work to stop them.
This will reduce the chances of accidents
Principal of a private school Sanjeev Srivastava said that his children come and go to school only by bus and magic. This decision of the collector is good. This will reduce the chances of accidents.
Parent Kishore Joshi says that he is sending his daughter to school through Magic only, but this order is good for the safety of those children who are going to school by e-rickshaw.
