Children stranded in school bus for 2 hours as driver grabs drink

Tumkur: A school bus driver in Madhugiri landed himself in trouble earlier this week after 15 students were stranded in the school bus as he had allegedly gone to a party and drink with his friends.

The incident took place in Madhugiri of Tumkur district and students stranded in the school bus were from Chirec Public School, the institution run by Pavan Education and Charitable Trust.

As usual, the children had left school at 4 pm. Midway, around 5 pm, the driver halted the vehicle near ID Halli and stepped out for a drink with his friends. When the students did not return home by 6 pm their parents panicked and went in search of the children only to find them locked inside the bus around 7.30 pm.

On seeing the crowd gathered near the school bus, the driver, Basavaraju, who was apparently in a house nearby, rushed out and started arguing with the parents over the delay before taking to his heels.

Following the incident, Madhugiri block education officer (BEO) R Rangappa said he visited the school and assured the parents that a of stern action would be taken the management and the school bus driver.

This incident comes some months after parents in India’s IT capital called for stricter safety measures involving the school buses that ferry their children every day.

It may be recalled that a seven-year-old boy died few months ago after he was run over by his own school bus while he was trying to cross the road. Identified as Chintan Ramesh Magadum, the boy got down from his bus and was crossing the road to reach his daycare centre when the accident took place.