3 days after school bus fire, no complaint, probe
Shakir Mir | TNN | Feb 2, 2017, 07.53 AM IST
Gurgaon: Three days after a private bus contracted to Amity International School, Sector 43, caught fire on the road on Monday, cops are yet to register an FIR. The only movement in the case so far has been the Gurgaon district education officer (DEO) saying on Wednesday she will take up the issue with the school, before deciding upon whether to file a complaint.
The driver and passengers — 35 students and a teacher — escaped with the help of onlookers who volunteered to the rescue. Allegedly, onlookers had to break open the doors from outside, after their hydraulic system had jammed.
Gurgaon DEO Neelam Bhandari said she only heard of the incident on Tuesday. "I got to know of the incident only yesterday," she said. "We'll contact the school authorities on Thursday, and if we find they were guilty, we'll take appropriate action." Police confirmed they haven't registered an FIR on the incident. "We haven't filed an FIR yet, as we received no complaint," said Vishal Kumar, SHO, Sector 29 police station.
Sources said by not installing fire extinguishers, emergency exits or a hammer in the bus, school authorities may have violated several norms of the Motor Vehicles Act.
The incident has also triggered anxiety among parents. "That school buses don't have fire extinguishers or that their emergency doors can get jammed is concerning," said Sheila Choudhry, a parent.
Eyewitnesses told TOI the two adults in the bus — its driver and a teacher — abandoned the frightened children and fled. "The teacher left on the pretext she needed to intimate the school about the incident. The driver probably fled because he knew he would be blamed," said an eyewitness.
Regional Transport Association (RTA) officials said they have issued a notice to the school for not furnishing a copy of the contract agreement to them. "We've sent them a notice for not sending us or the education department a copy of the contract," said RTA secretary Trilok Chand.
"The DEO saying she will first talk to the school before taking action is irresponsible," said educationist Sumit Vohra, founder, Admissions.Nursery.com.
The driver and passengers — 35 students and a teacher — escaped with the help of onlookers who volunteered to the rescue. Allegedly, onlookers had to break open the doors from outside, after their hydraulic system had jammed.
Gurgaon DEO Neelam Bhandari said she only heard of the incident on Tuesday. "I got to know of the incident only yesterday," she said. "We'll contact the school authorities on Thursday, and if we find they were guilty, we'll take appropriate action." Police confirmed they haven't registered an FIR on the incident. "We haven't filed an FIR yet, as we received no complaint," said Vishal Kumar, SHO, Sector 29 police station.
Sources said by not installing fire extinguishers, emergency exits or a hammer in the bus, school authorities may have violated several norms of the Motor Vehicles Act.
The incident has also triggered anxiety among parents. "That school buses don't have fire extinguishers or that their emergency doors can get jammed is concerning," said Sheila Choudhry, a parent.
Eyewitnesses told TOI the two adults in the bus — its driver and a teacher — abandoned the frightened children and fled. "The teacher left on the pretext she needed to intimate the school about the incident. The driver probably fled because he knew he would be blamed," said an eyewitness.
Regional Transport Association (RTA) officials said they have issued a notice to the school for not furnishing a copy of the contract agreement to them. "We've sent them a notice for not sending us or the education department a copy of the contract," said RTA secretary Trilok Chand.
"The DEO saying she will first talk to the school before taking action is irresponsible," said educationist Sumit Vohra, founder, Admissions.Nursery.com.
