Twelve-year-old Dilhani Prarthana Karunaratne, a grade 7 student of Swarna Jayanthi Vidyalaya in Kegalle, was run over and killed by the same bus she was travelling in, when she fell through a cleverly concealed big hole in the floorboard of a dilapidated school bus, the only one for the area.
Dilhani had to travel about 20 km daily from her home in an interior area called Dampalgoda, to the school, which was in Kegalle town. She used to invariably be a standing-passenger in this overcrowded bus, that carried about 100 students, as seating preference was given to those who travelled from a longer distance.
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| Dilhani |
Police say the driver, who was also the owner and conductor of this badly-maintained bus had apparently posed off as chairman of the School Bus Association of the area, although there were no other school bus services in operation.
Kegalle city coroner Dr. Rohana B. Nissanka said a thin plank of wood had been placed over the gaping hole, which had been further concealed by a floor carpet. On that fateful day Dilhani had been standing over that exact spot, when the bus went over a hump, board gave way and she fell through it.
Kegalle Senior Superintendent of Police Wilfred Mahanayake told The Sunday Times, that the suspect had been remanded and they would be consulting the Attorney General’s office to see whether he could be charged for culpable homicide.
Loopholes in
system: NTC Chairman
National Transport Commission (NTC) chairman Prof. Amal Kumarage said there were loopholes in regulating informal transport services.
“When the revenue licence is renewed annually, it is compulsory that a clearance certificate issued by the Registrar of Motor Vehicles (RMV) is produced. This would not have been adhered to in this instance, therefore this bus is illegal,” he said.
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| The hole of death in the bus |
He said the number of complaints regarding the poor quality of informal transport services had increased. “There are no regulations to help keep tabs especially on school van services and three-wheelers that are used for this purpose, or an official body to certify the safety of these vehicles. We are hoping to introduce some kind of identification for these vehicles and the drivers,” he said.
He said that the National Transport Policy is now open for public discussion adding that comments or requirements pertaining to school bus services should be forwaded to the NTC and not the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB).
Meanwhile following the death of this student, police are now gearing to check school transport services islandwide.
“Motor vehicle examiners will be called into check the roadworthiness and safety of these vehicles and if they do not meet the required levels they will be taken off the roads immediately, Police spokesman SSP Ranjith Gunasekare said. | 
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