63 Gurugram school buses fail safety audit; 20 schools served notices

Inspections covered 941 buses against 29 safety norms. Schools have two weeks to fix deficiencies before fresh checks and further action.

The Regional Transport Authority (RTA), along with the traffic police, inspected 941 school buses across 33 schools in the Gurugram district between July 6 and 27 and 63 buses were fined after they failed the safety audit, according to an official report.

Officials found missing female attendants, first-aid kits, CCTV issues and emergency safety gaps. Fresh inspections are planned after the compliance deadline. (HT Archive)

The inspections were ordered during a Haryana Human Rights Commission (HHRC) May 5 hearing in a suo motu case related to the alleged assault of a seven-year-old girl at a private school in Nuh last year. HHRC directed district-level committees headed by deputy commissioners and commissioners of police to inspect all school buses in Haryana as per the transport department’s safe school vehicles policy.

The district transport department submitted the report, seen by HT, on July 27. Officials said buses were checked against 29 safety parameters, including valid registration, PUC and fitness certificates, insurance, route permits, speed warning and vehicle tracking systems, CCTV cameras, lights, emergency brakes, horns, fire extinguishers, first-aid kits and emergency exits.

Inspection teams checked 219 buses at 23 schools in Pataudi, 553 buses at eight schools in Gurugram, 105 buses at six schools in Farrukh Nagar, and 66 buses at two schools in Sohna. According to RTA officials, 63 buses were fined for failing the safety audit.

Officials found deficiencies, including the absence of female attendants, staff uniforms, retro-reflective tapes, emergency exit doors, first-aid kits and properly functioning CCTV cameras in 17 buses in Pataudi, 20 in Gurugram and six in Farrukh Nagar, the report said. Thirteen of the 33 schools were found compliant, while around three buses on average were fined at each of the remaining 20 schools.

“While directions were issued to transport in-charges of all schools to periodically review their safe commuting plans for school children, around five schools in Gurugram, eight in Pataudi and six in Farrukh Nagar were served notices to meet the safety requirements,” a senior transport department official said, requesting anonymity.

Officials said schools have been given two weeks to comply with the policy and Motor Vehicles Act provisions. “Teams will revisit these schools to check if vehicles have been rectified and challans will be issued if deficiencies remain unaddressed,” the official said.

In a July 30 order, HHRC directed districts to complete the remaining inspections and submit updated reports before the next hearing on December 17. Although the district road safety committee had targeted inspections of around 4,500 buses across 351 schools, officials said the exercise would likely take another three months. “Currently, 40 to 50 buses are inspected daily,” an RTA official said.