Van operators threaten to hike rates

Now, with van operators threatening to jack up rates, parents will have to shell out extra money to commute their wards to schools in the city.

Now, with van operators threatening to jack up rates, parents will have to shell out extra money to commute their wards to schools in the city.

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The operators have threatened to increase van rates if the Traffic Police does not allow them to ferry 12-15 students.

Van operators had struck work here on Monday, causing inconvenience to a majority of people. The operators had protested against the traffic police directive to not ferry more than nine students at one time.

“If our demands are not met, we will be compelled to double the rates. We have asked parents to approach the traffic police, but they are not ready to come forward,” said Raj Kumar, a van operator.

“If the administration wants us to ferry nine children as against 15-20, we will double the rates. There are nearly 1,000 vans running on the city roads and more than 20,000 students commute through vans daily,” said van operator Sanjeev Vats said

The operators stated that they should be allowed to ferry more than nine children till the commencement of the next session.

However, taking strict note of this practice, Bharti Arora, DCP (traffic) said, “We cannot put the lives of children at risk. They have to abide by laws.”

4 school buses fined
On the instructions of deputy commissioner PC Meena, Pataudi SDM Vatsal Vashishth conducted a surprise inspection of school buses in Pataudi and Hailey Mandi areas. He challaned four vehicles of two schools in Hailey Mandi for not ensuring adequate safety measures in vehicles.