Karimnagar: 50 percent school buses lack fitness

More than 50 percent of school buses in the erstwhile Karimnagar district are yet to undergo the mandatory fitness tests.

Karimnagar: Though only two days are left for schools to reopen, more than 50 percent of school buses in the erstwhile Karimnagar district are yet to undergo the mandatory fitness tests.

It is learned that school managements were not coming forward for the tests. Out of 1,629 active buses in the erstwhile district, only 794 buses have undergone fitness tests so far and 835 vehicles still have to be brought for the tests. According to RTA statistics, there are 1629 school buses in the erstwhile Karimnagar districts including Karimnagar (818), Peddapalli (249), Jagtial (427) and Rajanna-Sircilla (135) districts.

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Of them, 794 buses from Karimnagar (460), Jagtial (210), Peddapalli (75) and Rajanna-Sircilla (49) underwent fitness tests. The remaining 835 buses from Karimnagar (358), Jagtial (217), Peddapalli (174) and Rajanna-Sircilla (86) buses have not undergone the fitness tests.

District Transport Commissioner Mamindla Chandrashekhar Goud said all school buses should undergo fitness tests by the time of reopening of schools. Buses without fitness will not be allowed to permitted on the roads. Moreover, vehicles that crossed 15 years would also not be permitted to move on roads, he said, warning that the department would seize such buses if any school management operated vehicles without the mandatory fitness certificates.