Guntur: The unfit school and college buses are posing a threat to the students.
There are allegations about violation of norms by the educational institutions in operating school and college buses by using unfit and outdated buses.
As many as 2,956 school and college buses were registered with the transport department in Guntur district out of which only 1,305 buses got fitness certificates (FC), which are 40 percent out of total buses.
The transport department started checking buses and seized 21 of them on Tuesday.The parents and students are seeking strict implementation of safety norms for the protection of students.
A Class II student N. Lahiri Santoshini died and four other students were injured in a school bus accident of the Vignana Vihara School at Nutakki on February 13. Similarly, on April 5 this year, a student of Class III, K.V. Sashank died as he slipped from the door of the bus.
The transport department, the next day, conducted raids and seized six unfit school buses and later forget about the safety of the students. The parents are lamenting that they are sending their children in the unfit buses under unavoidable circumstances.
Parents, S. Anjaneyulu and others lamented that majority of the school and college buses are second-hand ones which were brought from Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.
They alleged that educational institutions are taking those unfit buses on to the roads making some decoration and these buses are proving futile to the students. The educational institutions are using mini buses for lower class students in which students are dumped against permitted capacity everyday.
The parents alleged that poor footsteps at doors, damaged seats, faulty fabrication, defective engines and absence of caretakers are the main causes of the school bus accidents and sought transparent inspection of the school buses by the officials.
The transport department started checking school and college buses and seized 21 buses on Monday and Tuesday. Guntur DTC G.C. Rajaratnam said that 1,305 school and college buses got fitness certificate in the district.
He warned that buses of the educational will be seized if they run without FC and added that checking of buses will continue for the safety of the students.
