When dreams died young

In the wake of the Wazirabad bus tragedy in Delhi in November 1997, which left 29 children dead...

In the wake of the Wazirabad bus tragedy in Delhi in November 1997, which left 29 children dead, the Supreme Court had issued a set of guidelines pertaining to school bus. Last year, the Delhi Government devised a scheme for the registration of private taxis ferrying schoolchildren, but sadly, the scheme has seen endless extensions. Such token steps have failed to curb the number of accidents involving schoolchildren in the country. The tragic accident in Gujarat on Wednesday is yet another disturbing reminder of the vulnerability of schoolchildren 8212; whether on roads or inside the school premises.

April 16, 2008: 41 children 8212; aged between 13 and 15 8212; died when the bus they were travelling in plunged into the Narmada Canal in Bodeli, 180 km from Ahmedabad. The children were on their way to appear for their annual examination.

April 2, 2008: A 13-year-old boy was killed and 35 students of the Delhi Public School in Ahmedabad were injured when their bus overturned while trying to overtake a truck.

January 28, 2008: In Mumbai, four children were killed and eight injured when the Maruti van they were travelling in caught fire after the vehicle8217;s CNG cylinder exploded. The children were students of Millat School, Jogeshwari.

January 25, 2008: Three schoolchildren were killed and 15 injured on a foggy morning when their school bus collided with a truck in Punjab8217;s Nawanshahr district. The bus belonged to Saint Joseph8217;s School in Nawanshahr and collided with a truck coming from the opposite direction on the national highway crossing the town.

December 14, 2007: Six schoolchildren were among 17 killed when a bus carrying students and teachers smashed into the gate of a level crossing and collided with the Sutluj Express near Moga in Punjab.

December 4, 2007: Two primary schoolchildren died and another was seriously injured when a tractor ran over them at Aangu village near Purushottampur in Orissa. The children were on their way to the local school when the tractor hit them.

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July 9, 2007: One student died and 24 were injured when a Kendriya Vidyalaya school bus turned turtle near Karkardooma in Delhi. The bus driver was speeding.

June 14, 2007: Six schoolchildren of Namkum near Ranchi in Jharkhand were killed when lightning struck the school classroom.

April 28, 2004: Six children were killed and 24 injured when a school bus hit the Inter-City Express at an unmanned level crossing near Banarhat tea gardens in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal.nbsp;

July 16, 2004: Eighty-three children 8212; aged between eight and 10 8212; were charred to death, 20 of them beyond recognition, while 27 received serious burns when a fire raged through their school in Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu8217;s Thanjavur district. The fire that started from the school8217;s kitchen gutted five classrooms. The state Government cancelled the school8217;s licence and suspended four district education officials.

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January 29, 2002: A Class VIII student of CRPF school, Rohini, in New Delhi died and six were seriously injured when their speeding school bus collided head-on with another bus near Saket. Ten passengers travelling in the other bus were also injured.