DTC overhaul hurts students

With Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) busy revamping its fleet of buses, transportation needs of schools, especially those in South and Central Delhi, have been given the short shrift over the last one month.

With Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) busy revamping its fleet of buses, transportation needs of schools, especially those in South and Central Delhi, have been given the short shrift over the last one month.

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Ferrying students from home to school and back, therefore, is turning out to be a nightmare for parents and schools alike.

Frequent breakdowns and the consequent delay in picking up and dropping students have thrown the working schedule of schools out of gear.

“And the problem’s worsened over the last three to four days,” said Bharati Sharma, principal, Amity International School, Saket.

“The location of bus depots, from where our designated buses come, were changed without any information. The drivers are new and have no clue which route to take.”

Many depots in South Delhi that have received a new fleet of low-floor buses are no longer catering to schools. Peripheral depots such as those in Nangloi have been assigned the job now.

Bus drivers are new and unfamiliar with the routes.

Students, as a consequence, are forced to wait for long at the bus stop in the morning and have been reaching home late.

“Yesterday, many of my students reached home at four o’clock in the afternoon when they usually reach at two. There’s no reason why they should be tortured like this in this heat,” said Sister Nirmalani, principal, Carmel Convent School.

Working parents have been bearing the brunt of it all.

“I can’t leave my child waiting at the stop. I have been dropping him to school myself for the last three days,” said Inder Uppal, a parent, whose child studies in Sardar Patel Vidyalaya.

“We are not insensitive to the problems,” said DTC Chairman and Managing Director Naresh Kumar.

“We are sending buses from different depots to these schools. Since the drivers are new, they are not completely familiarised with areas and routes. But system is stabilising now. We are also planing set up a new depot at Nehru Place only for buses which will feed buses to only schools.”