RANCHI: The district transport officer (DTO) of Ranchi, Nagendra Paswan, launched a vigil at Shahjanand Chowk to test bus drivers in the city for drunk driving on Thursday afternoon in a surprise move to regulate school buses in the city.
The move came as a safety measure to ensure the implementation of regulations in operation of school buses in the capital. While a driver of Karati Public School was fined for drunken driving, a bus of Bishop Wescott was seized for having a registration of more than fifteen years, which is in violation of the guidelines issued to the schools by the city traffic administration.
Traffic officers used breath analysers to test both bus drivers and conductors of school buses. A total of 70 buses were inspected in the move with 89 individuals involved in the transport facility of school children being tested for alcohol content in their blood in the afternoon. The inspection was targeted at the buses ferrying children to their destination after the schools were closed for the day.
The tests found a driver of Kairali Public School with more alcohol concentration in his blood than the permitted limit. The individual has been fined. A bus driver of the Kairali Public School did not have the requisite documents and was asked to submit the same at the DTO office within a week.
"We organised this surprise check to keep a tab on whether the buses plying on the city roads are abiding by the regulations or not. The vehicles found operating with improper documentation or drunken operating staff has been pulled-up and further punitive action will be taken against them. We need to keep the city roads safe and this is just a step in that direction," Paswan said.
In a similar incident in Bokaro, the district traffic department has intensified checking against drunken driving after it has failed to curb the menace. The rise in drunken driving cases has, however, concerned the citizens.
In the past three months, deputy superintendent of police (traffic) Sunil Kumar Rajwar suspended the driving licenses of 16 drivers who were caught drunk during theh surprise checking drives. Though the traffic department has nine breath analysers, there is a dearth of manpower.
A doctor of Bokaro General Hospital, which is biggest medical centre in the area, said of the road accidents which are brought to the Trauma Centre, more than 60% victims were found to be drunk or had been hit by drunken drivers.
The move came as a safety measure to ensure the implementation of regulations in operation of school buses in the capital. While a driver of Karati Public School was fined for drunken driving, a bus of Bishop Wescott was seized for having a registration of more than fifteen years, which is in violation of the guidelines issued to the schools by the city traffic administration.
Traffic officers used breath analysers to test both bus drivers and conductors of school buses. A total of 70 buses were inspected in the move with 89 individuals involved in the transport facility of school children being tested for alcohol content in their blood in the afternoon. The inspection was targeted at the buses ferrying children to their destination after the schools were closed for the day.
The tests found a driver of Kairali Public School with more alcohol concentration in his blood than the permitted limit. The individual has been fined. A bus driver of the Kairali Public School did not have the requisite documents and was asked to submit the same at the DTO office within a week.
"We organised this surprise check to keep a tab on whether the buses plying on the city roads are abiding by the regulations or not. The vehicles found operating with improper documentation or drunken operating staff has been pulled-up and further punitive action will be taken against them. We need to keep the city roads safe and this is just a step in that direction," Paswan said.
In a similar incident in Bokaro, the district traffic department has intensified checking against drunken driving after it has failed to curb the menace. The rise in drunken driving cases has, however, concerned the citizens.
In the past three months, deputy superintendent of police (traffic) Sunil Kumar Rajwar suspended the driving licenses of 16 drivers who were caught drunk during theh surprise checking drives. Though the traffic department has nine breath analysers, there is a dearth of manpower.
A doctor of Bokaro General Hospital, which is biggest medical centre in the area, said of the road accidents which are brought to the Trauma Centre, more than 60% victims were found to be drunk or had been hit by drunken drivers.
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