Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam   

Schoolchildren at risk

Staff Reporter

Overloading in autorickshaws continues despite efforts to check it

SPARE A THOUGHT: Two autos carrying children from a city school show the risk involved. . Photo: K.R. Deepak

VISAKHAPATNAM: Seeing children off to school is one of the major tasks of parents, who think putting children into an autorickshaw is safe enough. But it appears to be a specious hope.

Against the norm of carrying six children, autorickshaws are getting jampacked. Children find it difficult to seat themselves properly, let alone comfortably, with their lunch boxes and heavy bags.

The problem is not confined to school-going children alone. If one witnesses the scene in the morning, college students hang dangerously on to the footboards of city buses.

From time to time efforts are made to control overloading of autorickshaws. But the packing of children like sardines continues. An autorickshaw generally carries eight to ten children with children sometimes precariously perching themselves next to the driver.

The accompanying picture shows two crammed autorickshaws carrying children home from a city school. Children hanging out of the vehicles are seen having no space to hold their bags. But the situation turns worse when they indulge in pranks.

Money matters

It's the economics more than safety that decides the number of children that an autorickshaw carries. If fewer children are taken, the driver collects more than the reasonable monthly amount. If less amount is to be paid, more children are to be carried. In the bargain safety is the casualty. The Traffic Police say the situation at schools is regularly monitored. A police team is stationed at schools to check overloading. However, it is not possible to catch every overcrowded auto and fine it.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

VUDA blacklists six realtors
Officials come under fire at Zilla Parishad meeting
Schoolchildren at risk
Nod for Ambience resorts
Collector vows to end traffic chaos
Cash stolen
Around the City
In Visakhapatnam Today

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu