Road safety measures around Bangalore schools need attention

Elite schools in the city have numerous facilities and yet there are so many more they ask for. Even as eight-year-old Yatish, who was knocked down right outside his school by a youth doing a wheelie on his motorcycle on Saturday, a reality check on a number of government schools revealed that most of these do not even have a zebra crossing in front of the gate. Are the lives of these children any less valuable?

The headmaster of PVP High School, at Mathikere, a branch of the school where Yatish studied, said that HMT Road and Mathikere Main Road—used by the schoolchildren a lot—is always abuzz with speeding vehicles, which poses danger to the children. There are neither speed-breakers nor traffic policemen.

“The road needs to be widened, and a signal needs to be installed near MS Ramaiah bus stop. There haven’t been any accidents yet, but something needs to be done,” said Shivalingayye D, headmaster of the school.

On Old Airport Road, Domlur, a little before the Command Hospital, is the Government Model Primary School. Here, to cross the road, the students have to walk about 100 metres towards a non-functional signal. Although both the gates of the school are closed, children can easily open these and are seen playing on the footpath, even as speeding vehicles pass by.

There are no speed breakers on the road. Neither is there a zebra crossing. Students make do with whatever facilities are available, relying on their teachers, on shop keepers, and most of the time, on their own instincts to make it across the road. While extremely dangerous, nobody seems to care about the risks these children have to face. The school claims that a traffic police helps the children in the morning and in the evening the teachers ensure that all the children are able to cross the road safely.

Mujahid Pasha, who runs a tailoring shop beside the school, has seen a number of near-accidents. “This is a good road, with hardly any potholes. Since there are no speed breakers or signals, vehicles tend to overspeed. We have tried asking the traffic police to do something for the kids, but they say they can do so only if the school authorities request them to.”

“If it were a private-run school, the management would have taken up the issue. But in this case, the government has to do something, in consultation with the teachers, but this does not seem to be happening. There is a lot of danger here, but no one cares,” Shiv Murthy, an autodriver said.

The Featherlite Government High School on Pottery Road is another example of gross negligence that has put the students at risk. The entrance to the school is away from the main road but the ground, which does not even have a boundary wall, faces the road.

“Crossing the road is a little hard,” says Vikram V, a 6th standard student. “But when we ask teachers for help, they do [help us cross the road] and sometimes seniors students help us.”
According to Vikram, accidents occur on the road quite often. “One of the kids fractured his hand when a car hit his cycle. Another kid was hit by a van and sustained a few injuries on his face.” School authorities claim there have been no accidents at all.

On being asked if the school authorities have asked the civic authorities to do something, the headmaster replied in the negative, and blamed the corporation instead. “The corporation should put the wall, but due to some litigation they have not done anything.”

The headmistress at the primary school feels the children are safe at the school. “Nothing has happened to them. Children are not allowed to go to the playground as they have a play set this side and there is no need to go to the ground,” she said, even as the kids were seen playing on the ground.