Guntur: School kids take a risky ride

GUNTUR: The overcrowded autorickshaws providing transportation to schoolchildren became a big worry to the parents. The educational institutions run school buses but due to unavailability of these school buses in their areas, the parents used services of auto rickshaws to drop and bring back their children from schools. The majority children travelling in the autorickshaws belong to lower classes. The autorickshaw drivers were filling the autorickshaw with 15 to 20 children forcing to travel in inconvenience. The parents are seeking inspection of autorickshaws like school buses to avoid untoward incidents and to run autorickshaws according to the norms for the safety of children.

AP DGP N. Sambasiva Rao found an overcrowded autorickshaw at Mandadam of Amaravati on July 4, he stopped the autorickshaw and found 12 students and three others travelling in the vehicle. He immediately shifted the students in other vehicles and directed the police to seize the autorickshaw by registering case. Only three people can travel and in case of lower classes students six pupils can travel but the autorickshaw drivers filling at least 15 to 20 persons in their auto rickshaws which becoming risky ride to the students. Nearly 20,000 autorickshaws were plying in the Guntur city and adjacent areas in which nearly 4,000 autorickshaws were operative as school children autorickshaws. Rs 1000 to Rs 1,500 is charged for a student in sharing system by the autorickshaw owner/driver for dropping and bringing back to schools. Parents P. Kameswara Rao and others of the Navabharat Nagar of Guntur city said that the schools buses did not come to small streets in various colonies of the city which is forcing them to send their children through autorickshaws. They lamented that if they questions about over filling, autorickshaw owners/drivers demand '4,000 to Rs 6,000 per month for individual service which is a heavy financial burden to them.

Autorickshaw driver, Polimetla Gandhi said that Rs 1,000 per month is very meager as this would help for fuel so they carry 7 to 10 schoolchildren in an auto rickshaw safely. Deputy transport commissioner G.C. Rajaratnam checks against auto rickshaws were continuing and registered 1,646 cases for violation of norms for the past six months. He said that six students can travel in autorickshaw, checks would continue and warned about imposing penalties and cancellation of licence for violation of norms.