Monday, 18 December 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The regional transport office of Dehradun division will conduct a massive verification campaign this week for school buses in Dehradun, Roorkee, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Vikasnagar and Uttarkashi. The move is aimed at checking issues like overloading and whether the vehicles carrying students follow all protocols, said the regional transport officer (Enforcement) Shailesh Tiwari. He said that the enforcement teams will go to schools in their respective areas to ensure proper inspection of school buses, drivers and their necessary documents. He said that there are over 300 school buses registered in the RTO but only about 200 buses are operating in Dehradun at present. He said that the enforcement team has already warned the administration of all listed schools to not operate school buses if they do not hold necessary documents like fitness permits and others. The enforcement team also conducted a thorough verification campaign of 636 school cabs carrying students last month. Besides this, the RTO also conducted a drive last week in which enforcement teams imposed penalties on a total of 146 vehicles carrying students and seized 12 vehicles for violations. Tiwari said that teams are focussing on all necessary parameters to ensure students’ safety. Over the past few years, students in some parts of the State have suffered severe hardships when the vehicle in which they travel to school meets with an accident due to some fault in the bus or improper driving skills of the driver. Some even lost their lives. Tiwari said that there are certain rules and protocols that must be followed by school bus drivers and school administration to ensure the safety of students. The officials have also appealed to the parents to register complaints about their grievances related to school buses, which can be done anonymously too. They said that such caution and contribution from parents will immensely assist the administration in proper monitoring of such vehicles.
