Cuttack, Dec. 18: A technical team has found rampant violations and irregularities in the operation of 288 buses run by 29 school and college authorities in the district.

Regional transport officer Diptiranjan Patra told this newspaper that vehicles of such educational institutions lacked various safety parameters such as door-locking systems and emergency exits. These deficiencies were also found missing during physical verification in a special drive that was launched this month.

Official sources said several school authorities are also using very old buses for the transportation of children and many of such vehicles are unfit to ply on roads. A detailed verification of permit and other registration will be conducted for compliance shortly.

"We have given a deadline of 15 days to comply with the new prescribed guidelines under the new Policy on Transport of Schoolchildren, 2016, by December end," said Patra.

The move comes after rampant violations concerning the safety of schoolchildren were detected during physical inspection of various school buses here.

Patra added that many schools have not installed GPRS systems and were yet to have a dedicated mobile-based application that could allow parents know the location as well as the movement of the school buses.

According to the new policy on transport of schoolchildren, installation of speed governors and GPRS systems were made mandatory from December 1.

Besides, a team of the regional transport authority had also seized nine small vehicles, including autorickshaws and Tata Magic, for transporting children in violation of norms.

The squad had verified the documents as well as other safety parameters including grills, first aid boxes and licence of drivers of 87 such small vehicles in the city.

Under the new policy, the transportation of schoolchildren in vehicles with a seating capacity of less than 13 has been completely banned in the state.

It is mandatory for school buses to have an external colour of golden yellow and the words "school bus" painted on the front and rear top. If the bus is hired, it should have a signage of "on school duty".

On the rear right side, the contact number of the bus in-charge, administrator of school, local regional transport officer, local police station should also be written. A separated email ID should be created and displayed on the vehicle for registration of complaints.