Footboard Travel by School Kids Raises Concern in Chengalpet, Kanchi
Transport employees said drivers and conductors often warn the students against travelling dangerously, but some students allegedly argue with them and, at times, threaten them after gathering their friends.
Chennai: The practice of school students travelling dangerously on footboards and hanging from the windows of government buses has been on the rise in the rural parts of Chengalpet and Kanchipuram districts, raising concerns among commuters and transport employees.
Despite vacant seats being available inside some buses, students are reportedly choosing to hang from the footboards, hold on to window bars and travel with their feet dangerously close to the road. Such behaviour has led to accidents and fatalities involving school students in the past.
The issue came into focus after a class IX student, Dheen Dayalan, 14, of a government school near Mamallapuram in Chengalpet district, fell from the footboard of a government bus while travelling to school last Wednesday and died.
The Mamallapuram police have registered a case and are investigating the incident.
Residents said despite such incidents occurring periodically, footboard travel among school students, particularly those from the rural areas, had not reduced.
At the government higher secondary school at Pappankulam, in Uthiramerur municipality, Kanchipuram district, a large number of students from Uthiramerur and the surrounding villages depend on government buses to reach school. However, residents said students had increasingly been travelling by hanging from the footboards and window bars of the buses.
“Even when there is space inside the bus, students hang from the footboards and window bars. It is frightening to watch them travelling in this manner,” said a local resident.
Transport employees said drivers and conductors often warn the students against travelling dangerously, but some students allegedly argue with them and, at times, threaten them after gathering their friends.
The lack of adequate traffic police presence in the rural areas also makes it difficult to intervene immediately and prevent such incidents, transport workers said.
Social activists said schools and parents should jointly counsel the students on the dangers of footboard travel and take steps to discourage such behaviour.
They also urged the transport department to operate additional buses during the morning and evening peak hours on routes serving areas with a large number of schools, particularly where overcrowding is forcing students to travel dangerously.
They said a coordinated effort by schools, parents, transport authorities and the police was essential to prevent further loss of young lives.
