KSRTC resumes bus service; poor response in Chikkaballpur

Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) resumed bus services in the district on Tuesday after a gap of 55 days due to lockdown in the wake of COVID-19. The KSRTC had stopped the bus service on March 22.

The bus services were permitted between 7 am and 7 pm on Tuesday.

There was poor response from passengers for the service as most passengers preferred to stay off from travelling to various destinations.

About 30,000 passengers used the bus service from Chikkaballapur bus stand alone before the lockdown. However, only 526 passengers availed the service on Tuesday. Most of them used the service to Bengaluru.

The KSRTC officials had decided to ply the buses based on demand. A decision was taken to ply between 70 and 100 buses. However, only 71 buses entered the road, including 20 in Chikkaballapur, 12 in Chintamani, 13 in Shidlaghatta, 9 in Bagepalli and 17 in Gauribidanur. Of the total 71 buses, 47 of them provided service to Bengaluru.

Every passenger was screened at the bus stand before granting permission to board the buses at every bus stand. It was mandatory for the passengers to wear masks and use sanitiser. The officials checked details of the passengers on the Aadhhar card and registered them. One passenger was permitted to sit on two-seat facility, while two passengers were permitted to sit on the three-seat facility. There was no permission for senior citizens and children.

“We have taken a decision to ply the buses based on demand of the passengers. We are plying 100 buses at present. Considering safety of the passengers, the buses are disinfected thoroughly,” KSRTC divisional controller Manjunath said.

Though most of the passengers were happy visibly, there was lack of willingness to travel.

The KSRTC resumed its services in Kolar also. Precautionary measures such as social distance, wearing mask and disinfecting buses were strictly followed. The passengers were allowed entry into the bus stand through only one gate. They were subjected to thermal scanner test and passengers were told to wash their hands with sanitisers.

The name, address, mobile number and other personal details of the passengers were collected. The buses plied till 5 pm and later they were disinfected in the depot again.