Traffic jams force Patna school to close for three days

A school here was forced to shut down for three days after students failed to reach the school due to regular, long hours of traffic jams, officials said Thursday.

Authorities of St. Joseph Convent High School in Jethuli on the outskirts of Patna decided to close the school till Saturday in view of unprecedented traffic jam, which the authorities said is not new to the place.

"Traffic jam forced us to close school because students coming from different localities were facing difficulties in reaching the school. Now school will re-open Monday," the school principal said.

The principal said the school begins at 7.15 a.m., but students failed to arrive even till 11.30 a.m. Wednesday as buses were stuck in a jam for hours.

"We ordered bus drivers to take the students back to their homes," she said.

On Tuesday, students reached their homes after 5 p.m. even though they left the school at 12.10 p.m.

"It is hell like situation due to the traffic jam on Patna bypass that connects a road to school. When the bus gets stuck in jam for hours, the students start crying," said the driver of a bus.

Traffic officials said the jams on highways connecting Patna with neighbouring areas have now become a regular affair.

An official said the traffic police will take some immediate measures to ensure that school students are not held up in long traffic jams.

Not only the school buses, the traffic jams also delay ambulances carrying patients to various hospitals in Patna.