BMTC buses restart today but only 10% of staff fully vaccinated

A day before the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus services restart after two months, gaps in the vaccination of drivers and conductors have emerged as a big concern.

Only 10% of the employees in theBMTC and the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) have received the second dose of the Covid vaccine.

“We took the vaccination to the depot level and covered most of the employees with the first dose. But the government’s new decision to increase the gap for the second dose means they have to wait for one or two months to get the booster shot,” an official said.

Read | BMTC to operate buses from 6 am to 7 pm starting Monday

Taking cue from the easing of restrictions last year, the BMTC has identified the trunk routes which will be opened before the interior routes. The first few days will see only about 2,000 BMTC buses hitting the streets. This is to assess the demand and prepare for scaling up the services later, officials said.

The KSRTC will do something similar. “Initially, we will deploy only those employees who have received both the doses. If there’s more demand, we’ll post those who have received the first dose and have a negative RT-PCR test report,” said KSRTC Managing Director Shivayogi C Kalasad.

The BMTC, too, is conducting tests for the staff. BMTC Managing Director C Shikha said a circular had been issued in this respect.

While the BMTC has taken a policy decision to deploy only the vaccinated employees, those who have received the first dose are also eligible.

KSRTC Employees’ Federation president H V Ananta Subba Rao questioned the policy to reduce the gap for the second dose for some people while denying it to the road transport workers, who have been classified as frontline Covid warriors.

He was referring to the National Health Mission’s June 16 announcement to reduce the second-dose waiting period from 12 weeks to four weeks for foreign-bound students, workers and sportspersons.

“Policies must be based on principles and reflect the ground realities,” Rao said. “A BMTC driver or conductor comes in contact with thousands of people on a daily basis. The government has to ensure full vaccination of them. Why have a bias towards people travelling abroad?”

He said many transport corporation employees had died in the line of duty.

DH tried to contact Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi, who is also the transport minister, but couldn’t get a response.

Big dilemma: How to prevent crowding in buses?

Road transport corporations (RTC) are reintroducing social-distancing measures but officials say only passenger awareness can make buses run at 50% capacity.

While the BMTC can rely on Bengaluru’s tech-savvy commuters to introduce contactless digital payments, its real challenge is to prevent crowding on the city’s vast network of 10,000 bus stops.

The KSRTC faces a similar problem, especially in the suburban areas, says its Managing Director Shivayogi C Kalasad. “Our drivers and conductors will not be in a position to offload passengers to enforce the 50% capacity rule. We can only appeal to passengers. Their cooperation is paramount,” he said.

A BMTC official fears their staff could face abuse if they try to force people off the bus. “We can regulate the number of people boarding a bus at terminals and major bus stops but it can’t be done throughout the trip. We may run additional buses but there is a limit to that as well,” the official said.