manoj

Everyday, autorickshaws with schoolchildren spilling out of them—some carry as many as 10—ply the roads of several suburbs in the city violating all safety norms.


Though the RTO clearly says that, in a three-seater rickshaw, a maximum of five children are permitted, the owner of the rickshaw with 10 children in it, said that if he reduced the number of children, parents would have to pay a lot more for the service. Currently, he charges parents approximately Rs 300-350 a month.

Many parents say they chose the rickshaw system over the school bus, saying it was more convenient, as the auto fetched and dropped the children to their doorstep, while in case of school-buses, children had to stand at the designated stop, a little away from their homes.

Despite a rampant violation of the law in broad daylight, authorities claim they are doing their best to control the problem. The Chembur traffic police say they have a flying squad of five cops on bicycles, patrolling the whole of Chembur in an attempt to nab errant vehicles.

NK Patil, Regional Transport Officer (Mumbai East), said that rickshaws taking more than the number of children permitted by the law could face a departmental inquiry and could even be sent to court for violating their permit.

Source: http://epaper.timesofindia.com (Mumbai Edition)
Date Of Publish: 07-Mar-07

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anupam

Plying too many school children in an auto is really very serious issue. For this situation parents of these children are more responsible than any other b’coz to save a little amount of their money they opt autos rather then school buses.

prem

Exactly anupam..I think every parent know the importance of their children’s life. Everyday we can see the autos and rickshaws over load with kids on our roads but neither parent nor school administration think seriously about it.