Bus owners to protest bad city roads

MUMBAI: Owing to the poor condition of roads over the past few days, school bus owners in the city have threatened to block roads on Thursday as a sign of protest.

MUMBAI: Owing to the poor condition of roads over the past few days, school bus owners in the city have threatened to block roads on Thursday as a sign of protest. The School Bus Owners Association (SBOA) is expecting participation from other bus associations and residents in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai.

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In the past few days, school buses have been facing delays of over an hour due to the poor maintenance of roads. Marred by the rains last week, some schools also had to declare a holiday on September 22.

“The government constantly imposes safety rules on us because we ferry children to and fro, but is not helping us in any way. Poor maintenance of roads and loads of pot holes makes it difficult for us to drive safely. Who is to blame if a student is injured in spite of the driver taking precautions?” said Anil Garg, president, SBOA, Mumbai. Over 300 school buses are expected to participate in the protest. “The roads are in a bad condition and we cannot do anything about it. The BMC is to be blamed,” said Garg.