NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday ordered a magisterial probe into the school van-tanker accident in north west Delhi, which claimed a seven-year-old girl and injured 17 students. He also directed Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash to submit a report on the accident within three days.
An order from the CM's office stated, "It has been brought to the CM's notice that a fatal accident involving a school van carrying students of Keshavpuram and a tanker has occurred near Kanhaiya Nagar Metro station, in which a large number of students are seriously injured, including young children."
It added that the Chief Secretary has been directed to get the magisterial inquiry conducted by concerned district magistrate or deputy commissioner and submit the report within three days.
According to reports, in September last year, a high-level committee of the Delhi government floated a proposal to ensure that educational institutions should monitor buses and vans ferrying students.
The committee – which was formed in view of incidents of crime on school campuses – included school principals, police and government officials.
"The committee will look into all aspects related to safety, be it transport or the conduct of non-teaching staff. It will submit its recommendations within a month," Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had said.
According to reports, only 1,000 school vans exist on paper. Figures related to prosecution of school vans/cabs plying illegally in the Capital, recorded by the Delhit Transport department, revealed that till August 2017, nearly 1,800 vans had been prosecuted for violations during a dedicated drive.
As per figures from the department, 902 school cabs plying illegally were impounded till last July, while as many as 1,767 were fined for flouting permit conditions during the same period.
In 2016, 874 such vehicles were impounded, while challans were issued to 1,776.
Apart from being verified by police and having clean records, drivers of school cabs are required to undergo driver training, including refresher driving training.
The vehicles are required to be fitted with approved speed control devices to ensure they do not exceed the speed limit of 40 kmph.