VIJAYAWADA: Though RTC bus services resumed in the city almost a week ago strictly adhering to Covid-19 guidelines, people seem to be preferring to travel in share autos unmindful of the risk involved in it. Cashing in on the demand, auto drivers are ferrying passengers without adhering to Covid guidelines.
Share autos ply on three major routes starting from Kaleswara Rao Market to Mahatma Gandhi Road, Eluru Road and Bhavanipuram. There is one more route from Challapalli Bungalow to Singh Nagar.
According to RTA officials, 12,000 autos have been permitted to ply in the city and its suburbs. Of the total, 8,000 autos ply in the city and the remaining in suburban areas like Penamaluru, Kankipadu, Vuyyuru, Gannavaram and Kanuru. As per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of the Health Department, only three persons, including driver, are allowed to travel in four and seven seater autos.
K Nagaraju, an auto driver, said, “We are strictly following the Covid guidelines. We are not allowing passengers to board autos without a face mask. Sanitisers are also kept in the autos for hand hygiene. However, during peak hours of the day, we are forced to allow passengers more than the permissible limit as the RTC is still operating bus services only on identified routes.”
“With the RTC operating city bus services on identified routes, it has become a tough task for me to reach my work place at Kanuru from Vidyadharapuram,” said B Naga Jyoti, a private employee. With no option left, I was forced to reach my work place by travelling in share autos, incurring `60 per day. she added.
Speaking to TNIE on Thursday, Deputy Transport Commissioner M Purendra admitted that they came across some autos ferrying more than permissible limit of passengers, violating the social distancing norm. We permitted plying of autos in the city following an assurance by the unions that they would strictly abide by SOP. We will discuss the matter with auto unions and ensure that all the drivers strictly adhere to SOP while ferrying passengers. If the auto drivers continue to violate the SOP, we will launch an enforcement drive on major routes to ensure safety of passengers, he added.