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| City children risking life to reach schools | | |
MUNISH GUPTA
Jammu, Jan 16: In its vast landscape of schools, the Winter Capital City is adding more nationally acclaimed brand names every year, the scoop of education is expanding and competition getting murkier –at least one can see in mornings when half a dozen small children are huddled in auto-rickshaws clearly risking their life.
Throwing road safety laws to the wind, overloading of vehicles plying students from schools and colleges is a common scene every morning and afternoon.
While the district police is busy tightening the noose around eve teasers outside the campuses of educational institutions, they seem to have forgotten about those violating its own orders regarding loading of vehicles by more than 1.5 time of their capacity. Minibuses and auto rickshaws are often seen stuffed well above their capacity. Not only the administration and the police, even parents of the children do not seem to be worried about the risks involved.
Rickety, overloaded mini buses with no safety controls in place. Maverick drivers and kids handled by insensitive conductors. Speeding autorickshaws packed with children and their schoolbags. Sending children to school is getting risky. No one seems to be incharge. Schools pass on the buck around to the transporters. So between home and school the child is virtually on his/her own risk.
“You just stand outside any school in Jammu and see how these minibus and auto rickshaw drivers violate all norms and resort to overloading, thus, risking the lives of these innocent children,” said Rama , a resident of Gandhi Nagar, Jammu.
The parents have many times complained to the school administration to keep a “check” on the overloading by these minibuses and auto rickshaw drivers, but their request had fallen to deaf ears.
“We met the school administration and requested them to check the overloading of these small vehicles. They assured us of proper action and for few days everything went fine, but then everything returned to square one,” said Vikas Gupta of Kachi Chawni
The parents in Jammu are worried as they fear any eventually could lead to a disaster, so majority of them are planning not to send their children on these vehicles.
“I would prefer to drop my son myself rather then sending him by an auto rickshaw. These people only want to make money without caring for the safety of our children,” said Parneet Kumar, a government employee.
Gaurav Gupta, a businessman, said,” Authorities open their eyes only after an accident. Therefore, parents must ensure that the auto drivers they hire follow the rules. They must see that the private autos have a side door and other safety measures. Though, it might be fun for the children and cheaper mode of communication for parents, overcrowding children in autos is dangerous.”
An aged morning walker, Sham Sharma caught up with, says each morning these drivers are in a hurry. They take turns like car rally drivers with the bus and the children swinging wildly. Please save the children from agony and be strict on the issue, he pleaded
However, the school administration blames parents for encouraging these auto rickshaw and minibus drivers for resorting to overloading.
“We have our own fleet of school buses, but some parents in order to save money hire private transporters. These private operators are the people responsible for overloading as they want to make maximum amount of money,” said a private schoolteacher
While talking to the SSP Tarffic Parminder Singh , he said that many times attempts have been made to take action against these traffic violators and in thi regard notices were issued to the concerned institutes but they put blames on the parents of the children who hired three wheelers . He also said that a meeting to the RTO Jammu in this regard will be held to suspend the permit of those vehicles who found packed with children..
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