CHENNAI: After nearly 11 months, air conditioned services on private and government buses are set to resume in Tamil Nadu. The state government issued the order for this on Thursday.
A total of 702 government AC buses will recommence operations gradually in the next few days, said official sources. This includes economic AC buses operated by six divisions of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) and AC deluxe and sleeper services of the State Express Transport Corporation (SETC).
The last AC buses in the state operated on March 25 last year.
Commuters with co-morbidities and senior citizens above 65 should be barred from travelling, said the order issued by the Department of Revenue and Disaster Management.
"The temperature setting of all air conditioning devices should be in the range of 24-30 degrees Celsius, relative humidity should be in the range of 40-70 %, intake of fresh air should be as much as possible and cross ventilation should be adequate," said the government order. It also mandated that the air circulation system should allow fresh or treated fresh air to keep the fresh air level more than 50 per cent.
Apart from the private bus operators, the government also permitted industries to resume AC buses for ferrying their employees and school and college institutions to transport their students.
According to the Standard Operating Procedures, the transport corporations should provide QR code panels to enable contact less payment from commuters and also offer monthly passes for city AC services. The government said only commuters who cannot make payment through digital mode will be issued paper tickets.