Bhopal: Association of School and College Bus owners (ASCB) has submitted a memorandum with the district administration and mayor seeking permission to run school buses on Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) corridor. ASCB, which submitted the memorandum about a fortnight ago, has cited time issues and safety concerns related to school children while seeking the permission.
The office bearers of the association submitted the memorandum to the district magistrate, additional district magistrate and the mayor.
“We have been trying for this since 2013 but so far no concrete action has been taken. After the construction of the BRTS corridor, the roads were narrowed down which often results in jams during closing time of schools in the city. Due to the traffic jams, children reach their homes late, causing much inconvenience to them and their parents,” said convener of ASCB, Sunil Dubey.
Speaking to Free Press, Dubey said another reason for them to seek permission to run the buses on BRTS corridor was to reduce the risk of accidents while children were on board.
“Sometimes there are incidents in which a school bus is involved in a road accident in which in most of the cases the fault is with the other party involved in the accident. Such incidents pose grave danger to the safety of schoolchildren. If school buses are allowed to run inside the BRTS corridor, then there would not only be significantly less or no accidents but children could also be dropped at the BRTS bus stops where they would be then later picked by their parents,” said Dubey adding the association had itself conducted a survey and identified areas where there were chances of accidents and traffic jams.
“We have been told by the district administration that the matter would be taken up with BMC under which BRTS corridor falls,” he added.
Speaking on the issue, additional district magistrate, Disha Nagwanshi said the matter was under consideration and soon effective action would be taken on it.
“One major issue in their demand is that one needs to have a proper ticket to enter and exit the BRTS bus stops but the parents and school children dropped there would not be having that. We would soon find an amicable and feasible solution to find a way out to solve this issue after discussions with BMC,” said Nagwanshi.
‘Most buses fitted with CCTV’
Speaking on the matter of installing CCTV cameras and GPS-enabled tracking systems in school buses to enhance the security of school children, Dubey said 90 per cent school buses running in the district had CCTV cameras and GPS tracking systems as per the Supreme Court guidelines and CBSE circular.
“About 1,700 buses in the district have already been installed with the devices. Only about 200-300 buses are left which would also soon be enabled with the devices. Earlier there were some issues with the district administration which have been solved already. The administration is now penalising defaulters,” said Dubey.
Speaking on the issue ADM Disha Nagwanshi said the district administration was now taking action against the defaulters.
“Enough time was given to the bus operators and the school administration for the same and now the district administration is taking action against defaulters by penalising them under norms. Action would also be taken against school administration which has not linked their school buses with portal made to track the buses with GPS,” she added.
