Bengaluru: The fitness certificates of 21 BMTC buses, which were booked on December 7 for carrying school children without complying with Supreme Court safety norms, were cancelled by the Transport Department on Wednesday.
The buses were being used for ferrying students of Vidyaniketan School on Ullal Road near Mallathahalli. A senior Transport Department official said that they had given three days time to BMTC to rectify the mistakes and to comply with Supreme Court safety norms. “But they were reluctant to even reply to the show cause notice. They continued to ferry school children, ignoring the safety guidelines,” said the officer.
Officials said most of the 21 BMTC buses were poorly maintained and ferrying students without first-aid box, fire extinguisher, damaged seats, broken windshields, side safety grills and CCTV cameras.
The decision to cancel the fitness certificates was taken after 52 school students miraculously escaped from a BMTC bus after it caught fire on December 3.
