Collectors inspect school buses, interact with crew

TIRUPATTUR/RANIPET: Collectors D Baskara Pandian and S Valarmathi of Tirupattur and Ranipet districts respectively inspected buses owned by various educational institutions in their districts on Saturday.

According to Baskara Pandian, what came into light was that “though most of 22 parameters, which are to be checked, were found to be correct, bus crews forgot that it was the small things like a proper first aid box or operating a fire extinguisher which could save lives specially those of young children in a mishap.”

Elaborating, he said, “When I asked the crew of a bus to operate the fire extinguisher he was mollified as he did not know how. I then had to teach him how to do it and demonstrate it so that he understood its use properly.”

In Tirupattur district a total of 375 vehicles owned by 188 schools were inspected by Baskara Pandian at Tirupattur and Vaniyambadi assisted by the local RTOs and their staff.

In Ranipet, Collector Valarmathi reviewed the vehicles at autonagar along with RTO office staff. Fire service personnel were also roped in to teach bus crews how to operate fire extinguishers while they also provided a demonstration on how to save lives during an emergency.

“Even a small thing like checking the emergency exit regularly to make sure that it did not get stuck due to non-use for a long time counts for much in an emergency,” Baskara Pandian said.

Agreeing with this Valarmathi personally checked emergency exits in vehicles she inspected and advised crews to ensure that they worked properly. She ordered that 23 vehicles come for inspection after minor mistakes were rectified. A total of 384 vehicles of the 523 in the district were inspected, officials said.