Times of India: Thiruvananthapuram:
Wednesday, April 10, 2013.
This
10-year-old student of Amala Public School, Cherthala, could perhaps be the
youngest RTI applicant in the country to use the legislation for a public cause
in her neighbourhood.
An RTI query
from the student, S Nirupama, had forced the road transport authorities to
initiate a biometric punching facility to keep a tab on the reckless driving of
private bus drivers that caused many accidents on the Cherthala-Kumbalangi
route.
At least
seven major accidents had taken place on the stretch in the recent past,
claiming four lives. Amala Public School principal Sr Victus was one of these
victims. "I still remember the smiling face of Sr Victus who lost her life
while crossing the road near our school. I was haunted by this incident for
many months, and got really upset when I came to know that there were others
who lost their lives just because the drivers did not cut down on speed,"
said Nirupama, a fourth standard student and daughter of RTI activist D B Binu.
As many as 40
private buses ply on this route running parallel to the national highway.
Repeated complaints from residents and school authorities had no effect on the
bus operators. "The bus owners claim that they lose a lot of time waiting
at the two-level crosses on the route but the real reason is that they compete
against each other to get more passengers," she said.
The residents
had petitioned various authorities six months ago to start a police aid post
here, but to no avail. Nirupama filed two RTI queries in March this year -- one
with the chief minister's office and another with the district collector,
regarding the time schedule of buses using the route.
"The
district collector transferred the query to the road transport department and
the RTO informed me within two weeks that the department has collaborated with
Keltron to install a biometric punching machine, which will keep a tab on the
bus timings," Nirupama said.
The road
transport department plans to monitor the digital records and penalize the
buses crossing the route before a stipulated time.
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