Silvester D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (SP)
Kundapur, Jun 21: At a time when people elsewhere were busy celebrating World Yoga Day on June 21, 2016, a devastating tragedy which happened at Movadi Cross near Trasi in the taluk had caught the entire state of Karnataka in a state of disbelief and shock. Eight innocent children, who were yet to see the world properly, had paid the price through their lives for the negligence of someone else. The children had left behind the dreams their parents had conceived for them high and dry and left for an abode of no return.
A Maruti Omni van was carrying students of Don Bosco school at Movadi as was the routine. At about 9.15 am that day, the van was about to cross national highway 66 and reach the school located on the other side, when a private bus that was coming from the direction of Gangolli hit the van. The Omni, under the immense impact of the accident, hit a name board of Don Bosco school planted by the roadside. While eight children died in this accident, eight others had suffered serious injuries.
Ananya, Ancita, Alvita, Clarissa, Calista, Delvin, Nikhita, Royston
The Omni was stuffed that day with 16 children, their bags, van driver, and his wife. Overloading of the vehicle and careless driving had accounted for this tragedy. The state was violently shaken at this accident and the departments took notice of the gravity of the situation. Departments which seemed to be in hibernation and private educational institutions which were unconcerned, had hurriedly begun to create safety awareness. They dug out rules about road safety, and regulations governing school vehicles. Police officers woke up to the situation and began to strictly implement rules regarding vehicles carrying excessive students to schools. If police and Don Bosco school had properly implemented the guidelines, eight children who are no more, would have been alive among us even today.
If the departments work efficiently, catastrophes can be avoided. After the said accident, strict rules and regulations were enforced. Rules about painting of school vehicles, necessity to display name of the institutions prominently on the vehicles, limiting the number of children who can be carried, restrictions about students being carried in auto rickshaws, Omni and such other vehicles, were framed. The schools were forced to take interest in safety aspects of vehicles, and obtaining of details about eligibility criteria and experience of the vehicle drivers etc were enforced on them.
All this continued perhaps for about a month after which the same old inertia took over slowly, as memories began to fade. Even after the current academic year began, the things are back to square one. Vehicles are moving about to private schools including the one involved with the tragedy, as in the past. Rules and regulations seem to have been forgotten. The education department is expected of at least alerting the concerned to the need to follow the rules strictly.
The parents who have big dreams for their small children, do not seem to think how will their children travel under such conditions. Every school that covers about ten to fifteen kilometres of journey to school enters lanes and bylanes, stops frequently waiting for students, and reaches the school after one or two hours. In the evening, the children reach their homes at dusk. The parents who now-a-days give more prominence to prestige, should take care of the safety of their children. They should speak out their minds in parents-teachers meetings.
If we fail to take proper action, the tragedy of the previous year might happen again, and a sense of guilt relating to negligence may come haunting again. Schools, police department, education departments, and parents can play a stellar role to change the situation. If they honestly follow the rules, everything can fall in place. Let the departments keep Movadi incident as an eye opener, and take steps to lay emphasis on safety of children. Perhaps this might bring peace to the souls of the eight children who perished that fateful day. Let such a catastrophe never happen again.
Parents of the children should not feel that they have done their duty by just admitting their children to private schools by paying hefty donations. They should, in addition to assessing the quality of education given in the school, also understand the level of security their children enjoy at the schools. They have the right to know about them, and it is their duty too. They should question about the fitness of the school vehicle that carries their children, whether its driver is experienced, whether there are conductors for the vehicles, what is the route of the vehicle, is it being driven recklessly, etc. In every parents meeting, they should raise questions without any hesitation and create awareness among the school authorities.
We often see parents whiling away time about a few less marks scored by their children. Why don't they think that safety of children happens to be an issue that is much more important? Do they treat children as just machines which earn marks? There is a need to create awareness and introspection among parents about these aspects.
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