Mumbai: Traffic cops haul principals of 20 schools over congested roads

Local residents had complained that the roads outside the institutes were full of traffic when they opened and closed; the police asked the schools to adhere to rules or face action

The traffic police recently spoke to the principals of 20 schools in Mumbai, as local residents complained of congestion on roads outside the institutes when they opened and closed. The principals were asked to adhere to the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles (Regulations for School Buses) rules, failing which action will be taken against the schools. However, the traffic police refused to reveal which 20 schools these were.

Commissioner of Police Sanjay Barve told mid-day that the intention behind the meeting was the safety of children while being transported to and fro schools, besides decongesting roads around the institutions. Joint Commissioner of Police (traffic) Madhukar Pandey said the meeting was held after they kept receiving complaints from locals about the roads being congested due to vehicles that arrived to drop and pick up school children.

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"The principals of 20 schools in the city were called to discuss the issue and asked to adhere to the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles (Regulations for School Buses) rules, failing which action within the ambit of law will be taken against them," said Pandey. The traffic police have asked the principals to conduct a meeting with parents and convince them to let their kids use school buses. "This will decongest the traffic around school premises," he said.

Sources told mid-day that many schools have not formed a transport committee, which is supposed to look into the safe transportation of children, transportation fees, identification of bus stops and verify documents of the vehicles like Registration Certificate, and see if they have fire extinguishers, First Aid kit, etc.

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