Two decades on, question of school zone safety standards in Hyderabad remains unanswered

Many school zones in Hyderabad pose traffic hazards to schoolchildren, prompting calls for infrastructural improvements.

When the clock strikes 3 p.m., the Chapel Road in Abids teems with students clad in uniforms of different colours and patterns. The 500-metre two-way lane has many schools, with five of them adjacent to one another. Students can be seen crossing the road, getting into parked cars and autorickshaws, all while narrowly escaping vehicles zipping past.

The ‘traffic marshals’ stand at the entrance of the school premises, concerning themselves with just that area. Beyond that, the children are mostly on their own.

It was on such afternoon almost two decades ago that a four-year-old girl died in a road accident right in front of her school in Secunderabad. She was crossing the road with her van driver and four other children when a lorry racing along the road ran her over. The incident took place on August 11, 2005.

Though that school later got a foot over bridge to help students cross the road, children studying in other schools have not been so lucky.

In 2023, there were 30 accidents involving schoolchildren, and the first six months of this year saw 13 such accidents. The police said they have written to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation to install such facilities as footpaths; signages; amber lights; and holding space for drop-off and pick-up to prevent such accidents. According to traffic police officials, the civic body has agreed to provide Special Development Funds to plug the infrastructural loopholes.

According to the Hyderabad traffic police, about 530 such schools across Hyderabad lack such amenities.These include Sujatha High School, Rosary Convent School, Little flower, Diamond Jubilee High School and Slate School on Chirag Ali Lane in Abids. Others in the list include Nasr School and Vidyaranya High School in Khairatabad; St. Antony in Himayat Nagar; and FIITJEE college in Saifabad.