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| Students on their way to school in a van in Cuttack. Picture by Badrika nath Das |
Cuttack, Nov. 6: The regional transport office in the city will launch a special drive to put a check on overloading of schoolchildren in autorickshaws and pick-up vans.
The move comes in the wake of violations of the standing guidelines that restrict autorickshaws to carry more passengers, including the schoolchildren.
“It has come to our notice that the autorickshaw drivers continue to pick up more than the permitted number of passengers, including the schoolchildren, in the city. Hence, a week long drive will be launched to curb such menace at the earliest,” said regional transport officer Braja kishore Senapati.
Official sources said that nearly 25 cases of overloading had been detected by October end, while 20 autorickshaw owners were fined for such violations this year. Nearly 10 school buses have also been fined for non-renewal of licence and not possessing necessary documents and fitness certificates.
A senior official said the special drive would be launched near premier educational institutions, while similar enforcements would be carried out on a regular basis.
Instead of four children, autorickshaws are often seen carrying six to eight children, if not more.
On July 18 last year, an LPG-driven Maruti van transporting schoolchildren had caught fire in the city. Although no one was hurt in the incident, it had raised question on the overall safety aspect of the schoolchildren in private transport vehicles. Many parents, on the other hand, said that despite knowing the hazards, they were forced to send their kids in overloaded vehicles because of cost and other reasons.
“As a lot of other children from our locality are opting for private transport, we, too, have decided to send our children in the same vehicle. It’s only after our request that the concerned autorickshaw owner has installed safety grill on the right side,” said Kavita Sahu, a parent.
Dilip Bhyan, another parent, said police and the district administration should strictly conduct drives on regular occasion, so that the operators of private autorickshaws and vans adhered to the safety guidelines for the larger interest of the community.
The police said the autorickshaws were also engaged in reckless driving.
“We are regularly carrying out enforcement drives and the autorickshaws carrying more than three schoolchildren are being seized according to an Orissa High Court order,” said assistant commissioner of police (traffic) Pramod Rath.
Rath said the ongoing enforcements to check overloading of schoolchildren would be intensified after Bali yatra.