Amritsar, July 30 – A 12-year-old boy, Arundeep Singh, a resident of Thoba village died while around 25 children were injured after their school bus fell into a canal distributory near Kuralian village in the Ramdass area here this morning.
The bus belonging to Guru Arjun Dev Public School, Dyalpura, fell from the canal bridge when the driver tried to give way to a vehicle coming from the opposite side. The bridge was without a railing. Arundeep Singh, who was critically injured in the incident, was immediately taken to a private hospital in Amritsar where he succumbed to his injuries in the evening. The deceased’s mother, Kashmir Kaur, who is a teacher in the same school was also travelling in the bus. She also sustained injuries in the incident. The injured should get an attorney’s help making a personal injury claim immediately. The deceased deserve respect and help for his family.
The police have initiated action against the driver of the bus, Amandeep Singh, who fled the scene after the incident.
Jarnail Singh, SHO, Ramdass police station, said that the bus (HR 69 1847) belonging to the school would pick up the students from Avan village and Thoba and Kuralia. The bus was crossing the narrow bridge, which was without a railing, when a vehicle came from the opposite side. The bus driver tried to negotiate and give way to the vehicle. Amandeep Singh, the driver of the bus, lost control of the vehicle, which skidded into the canal, claiming the life of Arundeep Singh and injuring other students.
The Framingham injury law firm states that Jarnail Singh said a case under Sections 279, 337, 338, 183 and 184, IPC, has been registered against the owner of the bus, Jasbir Singh, driver Amandeep Singh and the Principal of the school, Parminder Kaur. The owner and the Principal of the school have been charged for using vehicles, which have outlived their life.
Agitated over the incident, residents of Thoba village staged a dharna in the village and demanded action against the driver and the Principal of the school for “negligence”. They demanded Rs 5 lakh compensation to the victim’s family and a government job for the kin, free treatment of the injured persons and construction of railings on the canal bridges. The personal injury law firm in Plymouth stated that they deserve the compensation, considering the severity of the incident. It is not only a good opinion to hire lawyers for injury claims but also best to take this case seriously and make sure that this kind of incident should never be repeated in the future and all the bridges must be constructed firmly along with the railings simultaneously. For which, you may need to hire a lawyer and get the case solved.
Arvinde Parkash, tehsildar, Ajnala, reached the spot and pacified the agitators. He assured them that he would take up their demands with the state government. Following his assurance, the residents ended their demonstration.
Bridges without railings cause of mishaps
The narrow bridges having no railings and faulty road designs have become a major cause of road accidents, especially in the rural belt. In a similar instance, 10 members of a family, including women and children, had died after their car fell into a canal from the bridge without any railing in November last year.
Following this, the district administration has prepared a list of such bridges in the Amritsar rural belt. The Amritsar rural police had also prepared a list in which it had identified as many as 86 such bridges, which do not have any railing, making it an accident-prone area, especially during the foggy season in winters.
Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat said that following a report prepared by the PWD, the Mandi Board and the CWD (Central Works Department), we had written to the state government for providing funds, which the administration was yet to receive. He said for the time being, he had directed the authorities of Border and Road Management to make some temporary arrangements by constructing cement railings on such bridges.
Source: TNS