School buses carrying children stranded on a waterlogged road at Subhash Chowk, near Uniworld Gardens, in Gurgaon on Monday. (Express Photo by Abhimanyu Hazarika)
A day after heavy monsoon downpour left hundreds of school children stranded inside buses for hours across severely waterlogged stretches in Gurgaon, the district administration on Tuesday invoked the Disaster Management Act to issue a comprehensive Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) regulating school transport during heavy rainfall.
The order was issued by Deputy Commissioner Uttam Singh following an inter-departmental coordination meeting held on Tuesday evening.
On Monday, intense rainfall crippled arterial roads, service lanes, and underpasses in the Millennium City. Several school buses carrying students were caught in prolonged traffic snarls and severe waterlogging near major bottlenecks, forcing parents to intervene and wade through flooded streets to retrieve their children, particularly at Subhash Chowk, as reported by The Indian Express.
Tuesday’s order noted that the stranding occurred primarily because “real-time information regarding waterlogging at various points of the city was not available with the school authorities and with the bus drivers at the time of despatch”. The administration laid down strict protocols for the traffic police, education officers, civic agencies, and school administrations, effective immediately and until September 30.
Real-time bulletins, dedicated nodal officer
As per the order, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) must appoint an officer not below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) as the Nodal Officer for school route information, within 24 hours.
The traffic police will prepare and transmit route reports categorising stretches as ‘Clear’, ‘Slow-moving’, or ‘Waterlogged’. On days which see rain during the preceding 12 hours or when an India Meteorological Department alert is active, bulletins must be released at fixed intervals:
*Morning report: By 05:30 am
*Mid-day report: By 10:30 am
*Afternoon report: By 12:30 pm
*Flash updates: Within 30 minutes of intense rainfall or sudden road closure
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Traffic personnel, tow vehicles, and PCR vans are to be stationed at choke points during school commute hours (7 am-9 am and 12 pm-3 pm) to prioritise movement of school buses. The Haryana Roadways will also have to position a standby fleet of spare buses with drivers at all-weather locations to evacuate students in case of breakdowns or immobilisation. The order specifies that no student shall be left unaccompanied under any circumstances.
15-minute information relay to schools
The District Education Officer (DEO) and the District Elementary Education Officer (DEEO) have been directed to create a dedicated WhatsApp broadcast group and bulk SMS/email directory within 24 hours. This network must encompass principals and transport heads of all government, private, aided, and recognised schools across the district, including Sohna, Pataudi, Manesar, Farrukhnagar, and Badshahpur.
All traffic updates received by education officers must be forwarded to schools within 15 minutes of receipt without modification. The Education department must submit a weekly compliance report every Monday by 3 pm.
Protocols for schools
Schools have been prohibited from dispatching buses onto waterlogged routes and must use notified alternate corridors. In case there isn’t any safe route, schools must retain students on campus under staff supervision and alert parents immediately.
Other mandatory measures for schools include:
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*Route Safety Officer: Schools must appoint a Transport In-charge or a Route Safety Officer whose contact details have to be displayed on notice boards and websites.
*On-board safety: Every bus must have a staff escort, adequate drinking water, and drivers who are strictly briefed against entering inundated roads or underpasses.
*Handover protocol: Students cannot be dropped at unattended or waterlogged stops and must be handed over to parents or authorised guardians.
*Campus safety inspections: Schools are prohibited from holding student assemblies in basements or low-lying areas during rainfall and must inspect exposed wiring and electrical panels prior to dispersal.
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*Emergency helpline: If a bus is stranded or a child is at risk, the incident must be reported immediately to the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GDMA) or the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) helpline (18001801817/WhatsApp: 9821395354).
Civic and road agencies, including the GMDA, MCG, Municipal Corporation of Manesar (MCM), Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP), Public Works Department (Buildings and Roads), and the National Highway Authority of India, have been ordered to prioritise dewatering along school bus corridors and areas outside schools during the dispersal windows. Designated nodal officers must remain physically present at critical waterlogging spots.
Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Sonu Bhatt has been designated the overall monitoring officer and will lead joint weekly review meetings every Friday with the traffic police, education authorities, and civic bodies for the rest of the season.
Abhimanyu Hazarika is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express, based in Gurgaon. He covers southern Haryana.
Education
- Post-Graduate Diploma in Print Media, Asian College of Journalism (Class of 2020)
- B.A. (Hons) Liberal Arts with a major in Political Science, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts (Class of 2019)
Professional Experience
Before joining The Indian Express, he worked with Bar & Bench (legal journalism) and Frontline magazine, where he developed experience in court reporting, legal analysis, and long-form investigative features.
Reporting Interests
His work centres on civic accountability, environmental policy, urban infrastructure and culture, crime and law enforcement, and their intersections with politics and governance in and around Gurgaon.
Recent Coverage (2025)
- Crime: Reported on the recovery of 350 kg of explosives and an AK-47 from a rented house in Faridabad, linked to the 2025 Red Fort car explosion case (November 11, 2025).
- Environmental policy: Covered protests outside a Haryana minister’s residence against a Supreme Court order that environmentalists argue could allow mining and real estate development on large parts of the Aravalli hills (December 21, 2025).
- Pollution control measures: Co-authored coverage of the Rekha Gupta government’s enforcement of vehicle restrictions at Delhi-NCR borders (December 21, 2025).
- Road safety and infrastructure: Examined response lapses in the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway hit-and-run case and ongoing investigations into high-speed road crimes in Gurugram.
- Animal welfare policy: Reported on concerns regarding the low budget allocated for stray dog sterilization by the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (November 30, 2025).
- Urban culture: Featured the social media-driven popularity of a new Magnolia Bakery outlet in Gurugram (December 15, 2025).
Contact
X (Twitter): @AB_Hazardous ... Read More
