NEW DELHI, Nov 18: Even as the murky green waters of the Yamuna turned red with the blood of 28 little school children killed this morning, the state machinery launched a mega public relations exercise with officials and politicians going to great lengths to show how they are not to blame for the tragedy.

The Chief Minister Sahib Singh blamed the city traffic police for the accidents and gave a clean chit to his Director Education Satbir Silas who kept giggling and sniggering throughout his press conference. He also blamed the parents for allowing such a thing to happen. Sahib Singh also launched a PR drive for the BJP and praised Lal Krishna Advani, bahen Sushma Swaraj and Madan Lal Khurana for visiting the accident site.

``Ever since morning my officers have been working very hard. The Director Education has not gone home since morning. We are all working very hard,'' the Chief Minister said. ``And see the Traffic Police. They were checking buses in the morning. They should have checked this bus as it was overloaded. But I have been told that the traffic policemen do not check buses plying on their route regularly as they know them,'' he said.

``And parents. Today I met one parent whose child was injured in the accident. He complained of children being packed in buses. I said why complain now. Why did you not tell me earlier? '' Sahib Singh said. And then the bus was an initiative of the parents. ``But we have suspended the school principal for not checking why there were 120 students in one bus every day,'' he said.

Raj Nivas unlike other days sent two statements of the Lieutenant Governor Tejindra Khanna today. The accident occurred around 7.20 this morning but Khanna found time only around noon to visit the accident site and the hospital even though Raj Nivas is barely five kilometres from the bridge.

More than three hours after unshaven fathers clad in Kurta pajamas with tears streaming down their eyes looked for their children in the rows of bodies on the banks of the river, Khanna arrived in his gleaming Mercedes Benz wearing a crisp blue suit and left moments later. In a press statement he ``expressed his deep shock over the tragic incident'' and announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs one lakh to the next of kin of the dead. Though the Raj Nivas announced the suspension of the Area Traffic Inspector nothing was said about the state of affairs in the government's Education Department.

The police were on a PR blitz too. Friendly inspectors and Assistant Commissioners of Police pulled aside reporters and briefed them about the good work. ``Police uncle save me, the little girl was shouting and three of us almost dived to save her. Then one of us went in,'' said Om Prakash, the Civil Lines Area Traffic Inspector.

``We brought them all out. The water department boats and the navy came late. Our men brought boats from the boat club and saved lives,'' said another police official. The police gave absolutely no credit to either the Navy divers or the Army doctors who rushed to assist them. Little was said of the brave local fishermen who swam through the waters and brought out children first and then spread their fishing nets trying to save the bodies from drifting downstream. Senior municipal corporation officials reached after 12.30 this afternoon. Yet their press statement claimed: ``On hearing the tragic news of the accident, they all (Mayor Shakuntala Arya, Deputy Mayor Mohinder Singh, Commissioner VK Duggal) immediately rushed to the accident site and the hospital to inquire about the injured students.''

Traffic police officers blamed the Department of Education and the State Government. ``They should see that so many children are not packed in one bus. What do we do? When we confiscate a bus, ministers and officers call up and get them released. We are less than 2,500 men strong force and cannot be everywhere,'' said a traffic inspector.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.