School buses told to get fitness nod in 10 days

The transport department has asked schools across the city to get the fitness of 280 buses done, which were found not complying with norms during inspection, and get the fitness certificate renewed within 10 days, said officials in the know of the matter.

The transport department started checking school buses in the city after a ten-year-old boy of Dayawati Modi Public School died in Ghaziabad after he stuck his head out of the moving school bus and it hit the pole of a gantry gate near his school.

Of the 1,420 school buses registered in Noida, the transport department inspected around 800 school buses in the past week. The process of checking the remaining buses is underway. Of the 800 buses, as many as 280 vehicles were found not complying with norms, for which notices have been sent to the respective educational institutions. Officials have also slapped a penalty on the owners of 58 buses as the vehicles violated more than four to five safety norms. “We are continuously inspecting school buses and issuing notices whenever we find a bus not following the safety guidelines. So far, notices have been served to schools with whom these 280 buses are attached.. All these vehicle owners have to ensure compliance and report back within 10 days, after which we will inspect the buses again. If the buses fail to comply by the safety norms and get the fitness certificate, we will seize the buses,” said A K Pandey, assistant regional transport officer (ARTO), Noida.

According to the Motor Vehicle Act, a fitness certificate is mandatory for any commercial vehicle to operate. There are 31 points based on which fitness certificates are issued for two years, and renewed after every two years thereafter. However, bus owners said informed the department that since buses have not been used for the past two years, the safety checks are yet to be done. “Bus owners said that with the Covid scare still looming, most buses are still not being operated. Only a few that are fully compliant are being used as schools have started fullfledged physical classes after two years,” said Pandey.

“Since buses have not been used in two years, the emergency doors are jammed and CCTV cameras are not working in most of them. The operators need to check these and make them functional before using the buses. Additionally, many accidents happen while boarding or deboarding from the buses. The drivers and additional staff need to be careful and foot ramp as well as the support rod near the gate have to be properly installed so that it is easy even for the small children to use,” said Pandey.

We are inspecting school buses and issuing notices whenever we find a bus not following the safety guidelines.

AK PANDEY, ARTO, Noida