VIJAYAWADA: With Bengaluru going under complete lockdown in view of the rapid surge in Covid-19 infections in Karnataka, the AP State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) has decided to suspend bus services to the state from July 15 to 23. The RTC, which resumed inter-state services from June 17, has since been operating 168 buses to Karnataka. The RTC is also mulling to cancel services in four districts of Andhra Pradesh where Covid-19 cases are high. The decision to cancel operations to Karnataka from Wednesday was taken after the RTC officials received an official communication from their counterparts about the re-imposition of lockdown in Bengaluru.
The APSRTC resumed its inter-state services on June 17 by operating 168 buses against the usual 500, to Karnataka. The highest number of services were operated from Anantapur (60), followed by Chittoor (30), Kurnool (20), Nellore (16), Kadapa (12), Vijayawada (10), Prakasam (10), Guntur (4), East Godavari (4) and West Godavari (2). However, no buses were operated from Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram after the resumption of the inter-state services and the corporation is likely to refund the ticket amount to the passengers soon.
RTC executive director (operations) KS Brahmanandha Reddy told TNIE that the corporation operated most of the buses to the state to Bengaluru; originating stations for others plying to interior parts of Karnataka were in Rayalaseema. “A few days ago, we decided to suspend bus services from Kadapa during weekends. But after being told about the complete lockdown in Bengaluru, we have decided to suspend all our services till July 23,’’ he said. The Corporation is also likely to suspend operations to and from Srikakulam, West Godavari, Guntur and Prakasam due to the spurt in cases there.