Hyderabad: Hyderabad Police Commissioner CV Anand on Thursday said the school managements must implement and maintain all safety measures and cautioned that the school principals and managements will be held responsible for safety lapses within 200 meters of school premises.
He was speaking at a meeting organized by Hyderabad traffic police with school managements and officials from various departments. The meeting was organized with an aim to ensure collective efforts among school authorities, parent committees, auto unions, and transport operators for the academic year 2025–2026.
Anand advised schools to install and maintain CCTV cameras around their premises as a basic safety standard. He warned drivers to be vigilant when students were boarding and alighting, as these are the most accident-prone moments. Even a single child’s death can have a huge impact on a school, he said.
Noting that some children travel in overloaded autos, he urged parents to monitor how many children are being taken in each auto. He advised schools to ensure the presence of signboards in front of their premises and said that areas like Abids, Secunderabad, and Jubilee Hills face more traffic issues due to school clusters.
He assured efforts to form special coordination teams in such areas, involving transportation and traffic personnel. He revealed that the city has 3,000 traffic police officers, but only 325 of the 650 major junctions can be manned due to manpower constraints. He also raised concerns about the presence of pan shops and juice centers near schools potentially being involved in the sale of narcotic substances.
He called upon all stakeholders to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity.
Stating that the awareness program was organized in view of reopening of schools and the importance of student safety, he stated that such awareness initiatives have been a regular tradition and congratulated the Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) D. Joel Davis and his team for organizing the event.
He pointed out that security issues typically arise when schools reopen and must be addressed proactively. He mentioned that eight students died over the last three years due to negligence and emphasized that students must commute only in school buses and that school management must implement and maintain all safety measures.
Joel Davis said that over nine million vehicles operate daily in Hyderabad, and only 3,000 personnel were available to manage the city’s traffic. Special drone surveillance will soon be introduced near schools, and he emphasized that traffic regulation near school premises is the responsibility of the respective school managements. He advised schools to deploy their own security staff for traffic regulation.
He cautioned against overloading school vehicles and urged parents to also take accountability instead of leaving everything to the police. He recommended raising awareness among students about traffic signals and staggering school hours for primary and high schools to help reduce traffic congestion.
He issued a stern warning that minors driving vehicles would lead to vehicle registrations being canceled and driving licenses being denied until they turn 25. So far, 766 vehicle registrations have been canceled for such violations.
