Rourkela: Though all schools in this city will reopen June 19 after summer vacations, most school buses have not installed global positioning system (GPS) devices mandated by the Supreme Court to ensure safety of school kids.
According to sources in the regional transport office (RTO), of the 50 school buses plying on the city roads, only three have GPS devices in their vehicles.
“All school buses would be examined after opening of the schools. The buses having no GPS won’t be given fitness certificate and they would be barred from plying on the roads,” said motor vehicle inspector (MVI) PK Das.
Transport department deputy commissioner Chittaranjan Roy visited the city a few days back and issued an order to install GPS devices in all school buses failing which they won’t be allowed to operate, Das added.
According to reports, school bus drivers often drive their vehicles at breakneck speed risking the lives of the kids. In view of this, the Supreme Court gave a ruling making installation of GPS devices compulsory for all school buses. However, authorities of several schools here have violated the apex court order, said Raj Kishore Pradhan, a denizen of the city.
Rourkela Bar Association president Ramchandra Bal is also of the view that the court order is not honoured by several schools. It is not only the lives of the school kids, but also other commuters on roads are at risk due to reckless driving by school bus drivers, he added.
There is a need to generate awareness on the issue and the school authorities should follow the Supreme Court order religiously, he said, adding a joint campaign by Rourkela ADM, RTO and traffic police should be launched with action against the violators.
Siddharth Rath, the principal of Delhi Public School, said his school has engaged five buses to transport students of which three have GPS devices. The system would be installed in the other two vehicles soon, Rath added.
RTO Ashok Jena said the department is checking the fitness of school buses and has asked them to install GPS before reopening of the schools. PNN