Karnal: Authorities to conduct safety audit of school buses on weekend

Parveen Arora

Karnal, April 19

To ensure the safety of students across the district, the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) will conduct a safety audit of school buses during the weekend.

As per information, there are nearly 550 registered private schools operating in the district, having around 1,400 buses.

Sources claimed that the number of buses in operation could be higher than the registered count as some operaters are plying buses without mandatory safety checks and inspections. They said that nearly 180 school buses may be operating without having undergone mandatory safety inspections, though some have undergone safety checks in recent past.

After the safety audit, the department will have complete data about fit and unfit vehicles being used in schools.

Data from the RTA office revealed that they have inspected 421 buses from April 12 to 19, of which 53 have been challaned and six impounded. A sum of Rs 1,91,500 has been imposed as challans on buses for violating norms. The SDMs also inspected the buses in their areas and challaned some of the buses for not complying with the guidelines.

Uttam Singh, Deputy Commissioner (DC), said officials have been directed to ensure the compliance of all safety parameters in the school buses and other vehicles involved in ferrying the students.

“We have informed the schools to bring their buses on weekend holidays in Sector 32,” he added.