CHANDIGARH: Chandigarh administration on Friday announced it has banned auto-rickshaws from ferrying schoolchildren to their schools from Jan 1.

Scores of auto-rickshaws in the city daily ferry hundreds of school children to and fro from their institutions. However, the vehicles are considered dangerous as they lose their balance easily and also because drivers overload their vehicles.

Chandigarh's state transport authority secretary Vandana Disodia said the administration's decision has been conveyed to the auto-rickshaw union and its members.

She said the administration has instead suggested that auto-rickshaw drivers switch over to four-wheeled mini-vans which are covered from all sides. The administration has even offered loans to auto-rickshaw operators through government financial institutions for this purpose.

Disodia said that any violation of the ban would be strictly dealt with.

The administration had last month announced that all school buses will have to be fitted with speed governors with a maximum speed limit of 40 km per hour to be permitted to ply on city roads and ferry schoolchildren.