Bengaluru students bat for safe, short commute

An Instagram reel by a group of school students highlighting the poor condition of the road outside their school has been gaining traction online.

Three students feature in the video, posted two days ago. While filming, the camera slips to the floor from the hands of one of the girls, as the bus goes over a pothole. The reel is part of the campaign ‘Our mobility our voice’ by the students of a school located on Varthur-Sarjapur road, which is State Highway 35. “Sometimes, the average speed our buses travel at on this 10 km stretch is 4-6 km per hour,” says Nooraine Fazal, the school’s founding managing trustee and CEO. 

It comes after an analysis report released by the school, and shared with Karthik Reddy, joint police commissioner of police (traffic). The report claims that commute time has increased by 32% in the past year, and students spend over 180 minutes on average on the road daily. “As committed, the commissioner is actively working on solutions. We need the government to invest in bigger roads and mass mobility,” Nooraine shares. Reddy was unavailable for comment.

Continued efforts

The 10-km stretch has over 10 premier schools and is accessed by 30,000-40,000 children. This is not the first time schools in the area have contacted authorities to put an end to their woes. Sinduja T S, principal of another school in Gunjur, says over the years, they have handed over petitions, and visited civic offices. “We have even used our own funds to fill potholes on that stretch to make the commute safer for our students. But these are stop-gap solutions. After one rain, we are back to square one,” she explains.

The problem is that the road lacks a drainage system. “And in some parts, there is no road,” says General Arjun Ray, CEO of an institution in the area.

About 90% of the students of Sinduja’s school travel by bus. The rest commute by bicycle or are dropped off by parents. Some walk to school. “There have been multiple incidents of kids or their parents meeting with accidents, especially those on two-wheelers, due to the abysmal condition of the road. There are no pavements for kids to walk on,” Sinduja shares.

According to Ray, the condition has worsened in the last year due to construction — two large apartment complexes have come up in the area. “This means more cars,” he points out. Entrepreneur, Ritesh Prasad’s daughter goes to a preschool less than a kilometre from their home in Gunjur. Yet, 3-4 times a month, he is forced to park midway and carry her to school. “The highway also sees a large volume of trucks and cars. The government has begun widening the road, but the pace is dead slow,” he says.

Restroom stops

Lasya Mohan Varma, 17, a student who started the campaign, says her schoolmates often complain of discomfort and back pain due to the commute. “Some of them are athletes who are already harbouring injuries,” explains Lasya, who started the campaign.

Younger kids are also affected. Because of the extended travel time, they often have to stop the bus to use the restroom. “It is not easy to find one that is clean and safe,” says Mary Josephine, an employee at Lasya’s school.

According to a civic activist, the problem is that the highway falls outside the jurisdiction of BBMP and the Greater Bangalore Authority. “It probably comes under the gram panchayat. The schools should be questioning them,” he says.

He adds parents should ideally enrol children in schools within walking distance of their home. “If not, they should be ready to with the consequences. If a child has to travel great distances to access good education there is something fundamentally flawed with the education system,” he believes.