Overcrowded school vans pose risk to students in Srinagar

Srinagar, Nov 1: In absence of regulation, drivers of private vans and auto-rickshaws are compromising safety of school children by exceeding their intake capacity, leading to perilous journeys through congested city roads.

Despite repeated warnings and occasional enforcement actions, this risky practice continues to pose a threat to the young students.

For years, these unregulated vans have been a common sight on the roads of the city, transporting school children to and from their educational institutions without regard for safety regulations. Overcrowding, lack of seatbelts, and a lack of safety measures are persistent issues that parents are deeply concerned about.

In blatant disregard for safety regulations, these vehicles often pack children in the vehicles without proper seating arrangements and often exceeding their legal passenger limits. These vehicles are often seen plying on congested roads of the city during morning and afternoon hours.

The parents have expressed their concern over the perilous conditions to which their children are subjected daily.

"Overcrowding, lack of seatbelts, and inadequate safety measures are rampant issues faced by these young kids. We have many times advised these drivers not to exceed the intake capacity but they are hardly bothered about it," Muzaffar Ahmad, a parent of a class 3rd primary student shared with Greater Kashmir.

Over the years, the Traffic department and the Traffic Police Srinagar (City) conducted inspections at various locations and fined the van drivers for exceeding the intake capacity and not maintaining proper safety measures while ferrying students in morning and afternoon hours.

The parents said that cramming school kids in vans has a risk factor attached to it as the drivers do not take any safety measures and make students stand inside the vehicle.

"In the past, authorities had taken some action in this regard which had shown some positive results but the van drivers again resort to the overcrowding of school kids as no inspections are taken these days," another parent said.

A top official in the Traffic police department said that parents were equally responsible for encouraging this practice as they allow these van drivers or auto-rickshaws to ferry their children in such a bad condition. "Parents see it while handing over their wards to these drivers and they should raise objections and disallow the drivers to make the journey of their kids miserable. But they have never voiced their concern on this issue," the official said.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) traffic (City) Muzaffar Ahmad Shah when contacted said they will work on it. "The point is taken and I will work on it," SSP traffic (city) told Greater Kashmir.

The Regional Transport Officer (RTO) Kashmir Syed Shahnawaz Bukhari said they have been conducting drives in various parts of the city and have penalised several van drivers for exceeding the intake limit in their vehicles.

"The basic problem is that these vans or autos are not owned by schools and this arrangement is made by parents themselves. But overloading is not acceptable at all. We will again start our drives near schools and other locations to stop this practice," Bukhari told Greater Kashmir.