Bangalore:
For parents in Bangalore, sending their children to school has become a major problem. Private vans and autorickshaws, which ferry students to and from school, will be off the roads till Friday in protest against tough rules implemented by the city's traffic police.
The rules are part of Supreme Court guidelines on standards to be maintained by vehicles carrying school children. These include painting the vehicles yellow, not overloading it, and not using those vehicles that are over 15 years old. The traffic police has, as part of the drive, taken several of the school vans and autorickshaws off the roads.
"The transport department has issued a notification with 18 guidelines... Some of the private vehicles that are ferrying children have not fully complied, particularly in regard to overloading and other things," MA Saleem, Additional Commissioner of Police, Traffic told NDTV.
But drivers of vans and autorickshaws say authorities have been harsh and that they haven't been given enough time to meet with the requirements.
"The government has given us 16 conditions. We have accepted 15. The only one we don't accept is that old vehicles should not be permitted. We have been dropping children for 40 years... we don't know any other business," said Anwar, a driver.
Another driver, Mahesh, said, "I request the authorities to give us some space, to give us a time frame."
The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation is running extra buses for the duration of the strike to help students commute. Worried parents, though, have been forced to drop their children to school and get them back.