Chandigarh, July 11 -- The UT administration has directed all educational institutions in the city to conduct student pick-up and drop-off entirely within campus premises and restore parking areas that have been diverted for other use, in a bid to end the daily congestion and safety risk caused by children boarding and alighting on public roads outside school gates. Private schools, their apex body and parents' groups, however, called the directive impractical, citing narrow entry passages, security concerns and the likelihood of the order creating fresh bottlenecks at the very gates it seeks to decongest.

The advisory said the boarding and alighting of students on roads abutting school premises during peak hours was leading to vehicular...