Hefty fines drive school bus operators to change stops

Mumbai:

Parents of schoolkids, beware: School bus stops are likely to change in January, as the operators feel burdened by hefty e-challans – between ₹1000- ₹2000 – issued to them every day. The fines are imposed by Mumbai Traffic Police as it believes the vehicles’ designated halts cause inconvenience to others using the public space and cause traffic snarls.

According to members of School Bus Owners’ Association (SBOA), in November alone, 950 school buses were fined. The bus owners have been facing the brunt from the traffic department since the last six months.

Ajay Singh, member of SBOA and a bus operator said, “We have observed many times that a bus running on the same route has been charged heavily. A single school bus makes between 10 and 20 stops. Most of the time we realise that we have been fined only when we check our messages on our phones at the end of the day.”

Singh called attention to the sorry state of affairs on the western express highway (WEH), which is dug up and barricaded at several places, making driving difficult and compelling the operators to find alternate places for pickups and drops.

Anil Garg, president, SBOA, quoted from one of the e-challans issued to a bus operator recently: “For causing danger or obstruction or undue inconvenience to other users of public place or to passengers by allowing the vehicle to be abandoned or to remain at rest on any public place (section 122/177 of the Motor Vehicle Act)”.

The association also recently wrote to the transport commissioner and joint police commissioner (traffic), expressing its concern and seeking relief. “Buses across the city are getting challans, most of them are those plying on the western suburbs. They run on crowded lanes due to Gokhale Bridge’s closure in Andheri,” Garg said.

He added, “When traffic cops began imposing fines on our drivers a few weeks ago, we approached the authorities and were assured that such incidents will not happen. But lately, the buses, which stop en route to pick or drop students, are being sent e-challans for obstructing users of public space. This is ridiculous.”

The association will meet traffic and transport officials on Monday to discuss the issue. “If the meeting fails, we will be forced to change the stops from 500 meters to one kilometre (between each stop),” said Garg.

A parent from an Andheri based school said, “The transport and traffic departments should work on this issue and prioritise the school buses during school hours, which will help students reach their destinations on time. Due to heavy traffic, my child has not been able to get to school on time and his return home has also been adversely affected, over the last two months.”

Mohan Awate, a former education director and additional CEO of an educational institute, said heavy traffic on the WEH has been a concern over the last few years, and the situation has only worsened. “All stakeholders – the school management, school bus owners and traffic department -- should sit together and find a permanent solution to this issue. Considering the heavy traffic, school bus operators need to make an early start to reach students on time,” said Awate.

Traffic police, however, said the points of pick-ups and drops were at the “wrong places and cause traffic problems”. Raj Tilak Roushan, deputy commissioner of police (traffic HQ) said, “As per the guidelines issued by Mumbai high court, we have organised awareness programmes for schools, parents, school bus driver-owners and issued necessary guidelines to them.”

(With input from Megha Sood)