The district panchayat health and education standing committee has called upon the district administration, the District Police Chief, and the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) to take steps to check traffic violations by private buses and school vans.
In a statement issued here on Wednesday, committee chairman Pazhakulam Madhu said the wrongdoings of the drivers had led to the loss of life of many schoolchildren in the previous academic year. The key decisions taken at the high-level meeting convened by the district panchayat two years ago, to ensure the safety of children, were being undermined by certain people, Mr. Madhu said.
All schools were asked to submit the details of their bus drivers at the police stations concerned before the start of the academic year. This had not been done. The assurances given by the police and the representatives of schools that the decisions would be implemented in letter and spirit too turned to be hollow, he said.
The police should deploy special squads to check drunk and rash driving. The MVD should take extra while granting fitness certificates to school vehicles, he said.
Mr. Madhu said the Public Works Department (PWD) had ignored the plight of roads in the district. The potholes on MC Road in front of a school at Muthoor, near Thiruvalla, had turned into a ‘small pool’ in the rain, he said.
