End pothole issue else will halt services: School bus Association to BMC

Fed up with the lackadaisical stance adopted by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) when it comes to the potholes across the city, the School Bus Owners Association (SBOA) and other school associations have threatened to halt their services if the issue is not resolved sooner.

Stating that the ‘loss and harassment’ to the school buses and indirectly the students is reaching mammoth proportions, the associations have sought the state government’s intervention in the issue. They have requested the government to sort the problem at the earliest, failing which they would begin blocking roads Thursday onwards.

Speaking about the issue of potholes in the city, Anil Garg, president of SBOA, said that the BMC had been doing a shoddy job at filling up potholes and the work it did was temporary and, hence, a waste of public money.

“The potholes are causing immense losses not only to bus owners but also the general masses. Today, just as parents are concerned about the welfare of their children, children are also worried about the well-being of their parents,” said Mr Garg.

Explaining his stance, he added that children reaching home late was an issue for parents but road accidents taking lives of parents has become a concern for children. “After hearing about the death of the father of a school friend, my niece asked me whether her father would return alive as he travels on a motorcycle," said Mr Garg.

Bharat Mallik from the Unaided School Association said that the potholed roads were causing children to spend nearly 3-4 hours a day while commuting to and fro from the school, this was resulting in the children getting tired and not being able to enjoy their childhood. "The rules for children travelling by school buses stipulates that the commute should be more than 45 minutes. However, due to the potholes the commute has got stretched nearly four times. The municipal corporation should be held answerable for this," said Mr Mallik.

Stating that the lethargic attitude of the civic corporation needed to be dealt with strongly, Mr Garg said, "School buses will be blocking roads not with the intention of obstructing traffic but to ensure that motorists get saved from potholes. The buses will, however, not stay off the roads or force the shutting down of schools,” said Garg.

A Western India Automobile Association representative, Khan Abdul, blamed the civic body for the issue.