Safety measures: Traffic police to clamp down on school vans flouting rules

The school van owners have been directed to remove CNG, LPG cylinders

KARACHI: Most school vans across the city continue to go unmonitored, putting the lives of thousands of students at risk every day. Each horrifying incident seems to awaken the authorities' attention towards the issue, only to die down once the dust has settled. The apathy can be gauged from the fact that school vans do not even find a mention in the Motor Vehicle Ordinance, 1965. The law does not set any criteria or standard specifications for these vehicles that transport thousands of innocent children every day. 

The Karachi Traffic Police have, however, decided to take on the mantle to safeguard these vulnerable students. For this purpose, the Traffic DIG Amir Ahmed Shaikh convened a meeting on Saturday, where he warned the van owners to either remove the compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) kits from their vehicles, or face the wrath of his department.

Read: Road safety: Inter-city buses to remove CNG kits in three months

The traffic police department has issued several such warnings in the past, but have failed to achieve any tangible outcome. In the aftermath of the Gujrat school van incident in 2013, the then traffic police DIG Abdul Khaliq Shaikh had issued directives for school vans to ensure that all had a specific colour, fire extinguishers, emergency exits, certified CNG cylinders, route permits and vehicle fitness certificates.

In the absence of a proper mechanism to inspect these vehicles, however, the directives remained inconsequential. Most of these vans are not even registered as commercial vehicles, which means that the regulatory laws meant for public vehicles do not apply on them.

Muhammad Idrees, who is reader to DIG Shaikh, told The Express Tribune that the traffic police have written to the transport secretary, Tuaha Farooqui and the Karachi commissioner, Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, to issue a notification banning CNG and LPG from all school buses.

Read: ‘Friends of Traffic’: Free helmets for Karachi’s female pillion riders

The traffic police wants to ensure a safe and secure ride for school children, claimed Idrees. "We have set four main points that the department is going to ensure every school van owner follows," he said. The colour of all school buses should be yellow, there must be no overloading of students, no CNG or LPG cylinders and there must be an attendant in the van to care for the younger students.

He went on to say that after August 21, there will be strict action against all school van drivers, violating these rules. "Every Friday, the traffic police will confiscate vans violating these rules, so that the owners can rectify the faults over the weekends," he said.

Meanwhile, Regional Transport Authority's (RTA) secretary, Manshad Ali, said it would be difficult to paint all school vans yellow due to security issues. He suggested, however, that the school vans could be labelled.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 2^nd, 2015.