Action ordered against overloaded school vans in Hazara

HARIPUR: Regional Police Officer (RPO) of Hazara Qazi Jamil-ur-Rehman has directed the police in all the eight districts of the Hazara division to launch a special drive against the practice of overloading in public transport, especially those vehicles providing pick and drop services to the school children.

He said this while talking to newsmen during a visit to Haripur here on Tuesday.

The RPO took notice of the road accident that had claimed the life of three schoolchildren and injuries to six other when a tractor-trolley the students were travelling in plunged into a roadside gorge in Beer a day before.

The RPO said there were frequent complaints that the drivers of public transport buses, vans and Suzuki pick-ups were boarding the school children beyond seating capacity and the students were seen riding on the rooftops, standing in doors, clinging to sides and back stairs exposing lives to harm.

He said through a special campaign, the traffic staff should impound all those public transport vehicles that were found allowing the school children and other passengers to embark on the vehicle beyond capacity. To a question, the RPO said that he has also directed the DPOs from across Hazara to check the fitness of public transport and ban all those vehicles which were in deteriorated condition. He said every educational institution should be made bound to have fitness certificate of buses and vans being used for picking and dropping students.

The official said the district police officers would ensure that the educational institutions should be made bound to deploy their staff to help the students boarding the vehicles and crossing the roads before and after school hours.