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SBOA refuses to ply buses on damaged routes

The School Bus Owners Association has refused to ply its vehicles on damaged roads on certain routes due to the pathetic condition of the roads in parts of Mumbai, which poses a danger to both student

The School Bus Owners Association has refused to ply its vehicles on damaged roads on certain routes due to the pathetic condition of the roads in parts of Mumbai, which poses a danger to both students and the vehicles. Meanwhile, the BMC has said it is repairing the roads as and when the rains cease and will try to fill up all potholes at the earliest.

Anil Garg, the president of the SBOA, said after the torrential rains over the past few days, “Most of the bylanes have deep craters that are not even marked. As a result, there is a threat to the safety of the students and the buses suffered damage to the under carriage and suspension, too.”

He added that on Wednesday, nearly 50 buses in the western suburbs returned the children back to school as they could not enter the lane in which the students were to be dropped off after school. “The school management knew about our decision and hence called up the parents and asked them to pick up their children. We are hoping that by doing so, the parents and schools will coax the BMC to get the roads repaired as soon as possible,” said Mr Garg. In all, 2,250 buses of SBOA have decided to skip an average of two lanes each to save the students and protect the buses from damage.

An official from the BMC’s road maintenance department said incessant rains had made repairs difficult and the repairs done recently were washed away.

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