Parents should send children to school by bus: Bombay High Court

Observing that parking in a city like Mumbai should be treated as social interest rather than commercial, the Bombay High Court on Thursday, suggested the Mumbai Traffic Police to convince parents to send their wards to school by school buses instead of private cars.

A division bench of Justice Naresh Patil and Justice GS Kulkarni, hearing a bunch of petitions highlighting problems of traffic congestion, said: "One of the resistance point among parents is to send their children by school bus is that they may have to wake up early. But if they drop by car, it can be done just minutes before school starts. This has to be done away with. "

The bench also raised a red flag on taxis parking on roads, suggesting exclusive parking areas for them.

Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, appearing for the state and traffic department, informed the court that a policy decision has been taken to ban heavy vehicles and tourist buses from parking in South Mumbai. Similarly, mini buses are being operated on certain routes only to ease traffic.

The court also requested the authorities to consider having a single mode of transport, and do away with various corporations plying buses on the same route. It also indicated that since Mumbai is surrounded by water, the government must consider exploiting it to ease road congestion. It cited the example of Kerala, where inland water ways are used to commute.

The court has now posted the matter for further hearing on April 4, asking the authorities to come out with long-term plans to deal with parking.