The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has asked the state government to examine the feasibility of a proposal to make schools in the state capital responsible for traffic management in their vicinity.
The court directed the state’s additional advocate general (AAG) Sudeep Seth to convene a meeting, ensuring the participation of all departments concerned and school authorities to discuss the proposal in detail. It said school authorities should be informed in advance so they can submit their proposals for consideration.
A division bench of Justice Alok Mathur and Justice BR Singh passed the order on March 30 while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Gomti River Bank Residents Welfare Association.
The directions came after the state counsel submitted a report on a study of schools, as ordered earlier, along with suggestions to improve traffic conditions in and around them. The AAG also submitted a compliance report, a copy of which was provided to the amicus curiae. The report assessed the performance of marshals deployed at 18 schools.
“In the said report, we noticed that certain schools are complying with the directions, and the Marshals are effective in regulating the traffic while there are some schools which have not lived up to the expectations, and the Marshals are not performing as expected, despite adequate training having been imparted by the State Government in this regard,” the court said.
Ravina Tyagi, deputy commissioner of police (traffic), appeared before the court and explained measures to address traffic congestion around schools. It was submitted that the Smart City Control Room, which monitors CCTV cameras installed at key junctions and roads. Schools may also be directed to install CCTV cameras at congestion points, particularly during drop-off and pick-up hours, enabling real-time traffic management.
The court was informed that the DCP (traffic) would further study the proposal in consultation with school authorities and identify strategic locations for CCTV installation, which would be linked to the existing Smart City Control Room network.
Earlier, the court had expressed concern over traffic congestion near several schools in Lucknow during opening and closing hours and had directed the state authorities to take remedial measures.
The court noted a proposal that schools with more than 1,500 students should deploy at least 10 trained marshals to manage traffic and prevent congestion.
On March 30, the court was also informed that obstacles preventing the opening of Gate No. 6A at Loreto School had been removed. Senior advocate JN Mathur said he would consult the school authorities and inform the court about when the gate would be opened to facilitate smoother entry and exit of students.
The court further noted that traffic management issues had been addressed by the Supreme Court in S Rajaseekaran vs Union of India and others, which laid down guidelines to be followed by all states. The AAG sought time to examine these directions and apprise the court of the state’s position by the next hearing. The matter was listed for further hearing at 3:30 pm on April 28.
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