TIRUCHY: Nagapattinam district collector P Akash inspected the fitness of buses operated by educational institutions on Wednesday and rejected eight buses that failed to adhere to regulations and safety norms.
The annual fitness test for the vehicles of educational institutions was held in Nagapattinam at the AR ground at Kadampadi. From the overall 168 buses that function from 36 schools across the city, 123 buses were brought for inspection. Of these, officials rejected eight buses for failing to adhere to the norms.
As per the norms, school buses should have footboards within 30 cm, front and rear cameras, first aid kits, a fire extinguisher, reflectors on all sides and adequate space for keeping schoolbags along with the seats.
The buses should also ensure the display of the number of transport in charge, the respective School Correspondent and the Regional Transport Officer.
After inspecting the vehicles, the Collector instructed the drivers to ensure they wear uniforms, avoid using mobile phones while driving and avoid rash driving. He also distributed the booklet about the transport norms to the drivers.
The collector warned that schools absent from the test must appear for the test by May 31 or face permit cancellation. Nagapattinam RDO R Sankaranarayanan, RTO R Kathirvel, Motor Vehicle inspector Prabhu and other officials were present.