Lucknow has highestnumber of unfit buses in U.P., reveals data

The state capital not only has the highest number of school vehicles transporting children without the right permits and documents, but also the maximum number of passenger buses running past their fitness date.

LUCKNOW: The maximum illegal movement of unfit buses in the state takes place in the state capital , as per the recent data released by the State Road Transport Corporation. With over 1500 such vehicles plying the streets illegally, the regional transport office has decided to remove all of them from the RTO list of registered vehicles for good.

Lucknow is followed by Prayagraj and Ghaziabad, with 723 and 630 such buses found to be illegally plying on the roads. (Pic for representation)

Following the transport minister’s strict instructions to crack down on vehicles with expired fitness certificates, a drive was held recently to check on school buses and it came to light that not only did Lucknow have the highest number of school vehicles transporting children without the right permits and documents, but it also had the highest number of passenger buses running past their fitness date.

According to the State Road Transport Corporation, of the combined 2511 public and private passenger buses that ply in Lucknow, 773 lack fitness certificates and are past the permissible age of 15 years. “These buses should have been off the streets since the last date marked on the certificates issued to them - some of them expired two years ago,” said a UPSRTC official.

Lucknow is followed by Prayagraj and Ghaziabad, with 723 and 630 such buses found to be illegally plying on the roads. However, Ghaziabad has 3140 such buses moving on the streets - far higher than Lucknow’s 2511.

Fitness of school vehicles expired in 2014

As for school vehicles, from Lucknow alone, 804 vehicles have been seized for the same offence of driving with expired fitness certificates or invalid permits. Some of these school vehicles have been carrying children back and forth since 2017 with invalid permits and with expired fitness since 2014. This survey was conducted across 370 schools of the city, by transport officers and traffic police of the city.

“All the vehicles that are found with expired or invalid permits will be erased from the RTO’s list of registered vehicles, since these vehicles have been plying illegally for a long time, despite repeated warning before and during the fitness drive conducted by the department,” said Sandeep Pankaj, RTO Enforcement Officer .