NEW DELHI, Dec 18: The bus that plunged into the Yamuna at Wazirabad on November 18, came for hire at Rs 7,200, according to the Delhi Government inquiry report into the tragedy. This bus was carrying the load meant for two buses, primarily from Yamuna Vihar, Bhajan Pura and Khajuri Khas.

According to the office-bearers of Parents Teachers Association (PTA) of Ludlow Castle school, they only charged Rs 125 from each student as bus fee. But on the ill-fated bus, there were 120 to 140 students. So the collections on just this one bus would have been Rs 15,000.

Every month, therefore, the school made a marked profit of Rs 7,800. And there were eight such buses plying for the school. According to the report, the PTA had a bus fund of Rs 7 lakh in fixed deposits.

After the accident, the school principal had said that overcrowding was inevitable because they could not afford more buses. The report points out that ``the funds lying unused in the bus fund were not being used optimally.

With each bus costing only Rs 7,200 on hire, the school could hire more buses.'' To top it all, according to the report, there were some ``free travellers on the bus like the teachers and the administrative staff.''

They were on the bus even on the day of the tragedy. The bus contractor had bagged the school contract for the last 10 years, something which even the school functionaries found strange. Taking this into account, the report says that all the contracts that the school had entered into, should be looked into.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.