Highly inflammable: Private school vans

NEW DELHI: Do you know your child may be riding a time bomb to school every day? Almost 90 per cent of the private vans that ferry children to school use domestic LPG cylinders, instead of the government-approved LPG kits.
Using domestic LPG as fuel in vehicles is illegal, and needless to say, dangerous.
Realising the situation could lead to another Kumbakonam, the city''s transport department has decided on a drive to nab such violators, beginning September 1.
"We have written to schools in July to discourage use of LPG in vehicles," said transport commissioner Rajiv Talwar.
Private vehicle owners are tempted to use domestic LPG as it is heavily subsidised, reducing running costs. Moreover, retrofitting a vehicle with an LPG kit costs Rs 30,000.
What is shocking is that not only are there instances of gross violations across the city, even when they are pointed out, remedial action isn''t exactly prompt.
For instance, the principal of Cambridge Public School, Rajouri Garden, wrote to the transport department in January saying there were about 54 private vehicles plying children that were using domestic LPG. No action has been taken yet.
Worse, in most cases, it is not the schools, but parents who are to blame.
"In a majority of cases, parents opt for a private arrangement since it works out to be slightly cheaper. But they do not pay attention to this detail," said a south Delhi school principal.