Schoolboy’s death brings back focus on lax bus safety norms

The death of a Navi Mumbai schoolboy under the wheels of his school bus, the third such incident in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region this year, has turned the spotlight on the common practice of employing private buses that belong to neither the school nor any of the big contractors.      Experts say it is tough to regulate such buses and warn of more accidents if the government does not immediately pay attention to the problem. As for big bus contractors, they are blaming the accident on the lax attitude of the transport department in implementing the school bus safety policy.      "The first thing the government needs to do is stop all private cars and other private vehicles from ferrying school children, since they do not follow safety rules," said a bus contractor. Another contractor said that the school bus involved in Thursday's accident was running without a proper contract with the school.      But a police officer said that the school bus contractor and the school do have a contract, "but the nuances are not known since the school is shut and the contractor is not in town".      Meanwhile, a magistrate's court on Friday remanded in 14-day judicial custody the driver and cleaner of the school bus that ran over seven-year-old Dhruvin Dhaggal. The Kharghar police have called the owner of the bus service for an inquiry; the man resides in Kolkatta.      "More than the driver, it is the cleaner who is responsible for the accident, since it was he who signalled the driver to start the bus, before checking if the children who got off the bus had safely reached the other side of the road," said senior police inspector Kiran Patil of the Kharghar police station. "The cleaner was also at fault because he did not help the children cross the road. Had he signalled the driver to start the bus 10 seconds later, this tragedy could have been averted."      A police officer said the bus looked in good shape and will be reviewed by RTO officials.      To compound the tragedy of the Dhaggals—residents of Arihant Krupa Society, Sector 27, Kharghar—who are ardent devotees of Lord Krishna, the family lost their only son on Janmashtami and had to perform his last rites on Gokulashtami.      On the day of the accident, Dhruvin's mother, Kinjal, like every day was looking at him from their ninth floor apartment and saw him come under the wheels of the bus, a police officer said. "As per the school bus safety policy, an attendant or the cleaner of the bus is supposed to hand over children to their parents or guardians at the bus stop. But in this case, the cleaner did not bother to help the children cross the road," the officer said.      The principal of Dhruvin's school, Alice Vaz, was not available for comment.  Times View: A totally avoidable tragedy      Incidents like this are completely avoidable but keep on happening with worrying regularity. It indicates that bus owners have failed to instil in drivers that extra sense of responsibility that must accompany driving young kids. It's shocking that a basic drill, like an attendant ensuring a kid has reached the pavement (or the building gate) before the bus starts moving, is still not in place.      JUNE 28, 2012  A 12-year-old student of SCD Barfiwala High School, D N Nagar, Andheri (West), is run over by his school bus, which was reversing, outside the school gate      FEB 8  A six-year-old student of Podar International School is run over by her school bus as she alights from the vehicle near St Anthony's Church, Vakola. The driver, who had earphones plugged in, started the bus without realizing that the girl was standing close by Seven-year-old Dhruvin Dhaggal (inset), a student of Ryan International School, Kharghar, was on Thursday run over by his school bus (above) when he alighted from it near his home