Mumbai: School bus owners stare at another year of misery

The sudden spurt in cases in the past few weeks has dashed all hopes of school bus owners. File/Ashish Raje

With their hopes of schools reopening dashed due to the massive rise in coronavirus infections in the city, school bus owners are staring at another year of huge loss and uncertainty. In their efforts to stay united in tackling the challenge, many have appealed to their fraternity to share their troubles with their representatives so voices can be raised, especially to ease the pressure of bank loans by requesting more time to repay.

As the COVID pandemic has forced schools to stay closed for the longest time, it has also brought in unspeakable miseries for the school bus owners. While they have been raising their voices for almost a year now, there has been no resolution. The School Bus Owners Association met with the Governor of Maharashtra on Wednesday with their issues and submitted their demands.

There are about 15,000 school buses in Mumbai.

"We do not need any financial help from the government. But we have requested that all school bus owners be given an extension of two years to repay their bank loans as currently everybody is in a huge loss. Moreover, we have requested that our permits and other documents to run vehicles as school buses should be valid until schools reopen," said Anil Garg, president of the Association. He said they hope to receive a positive response as several from the business are in dire need.

He continued, "It is a nightmare for school bus owners and some are also attempting to end their lives. Now that school buses are not running, most of our vehicles are parked and we are being charged for that too. Sometimes, traffic police are also taking action on parked vehicles."

The Association has urged bus owners from across the state to approach the association with their issues. Garg also rued the fact that they are not being given permission to hold protests. "Most of us planned to hold protests from our own premises but that too is on hold with the new restrictions on movements," said Garg, adding, "It is unfortunate to see how an integral part of school-life is bleeding through the pandemic, while schools continue to function."