VIJAYAWADA: With the Centre giving nod for resuming inter-state public transport, the State officials are busy formulating a proper system for the same. Though there is a demand from people for buses to places like Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru, a decision on resuming inter-state bus services will be taken only by considering various factors at a meeting to be chaired by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday.
It will take a couple of days for the State government to come up with a concrete plan for resuming public transport and then only it can approach the neighbouring States for their consent to resume bus services. Consent of the two States is needed for running of inter-state bus services as per the guidelines issued by the Centre while extending the lockdown on Sunday.
“We will discuss the issue with the Chief Minister on Monday,’’ Principal Secretary (Transport) MT Krishna Babu told TNIE. “We need to put a system in place and we have to look at the testing and quarantine capacity while taking a call,” he explained. Sources said there is an apprehension from some senior officials over running services to Chennai and Hyderabad.
“Major cities in the neighbouring States are coronavirus hotspots. Managing the passengers coming to our State is a big task,’’ Krishna Babu said. However, when it comes to intra-state operations, the Chief Minister has already given nod to run bus services in previous meetings, but the issue will also be taken up in the meeting. Meanwhile, APSRTC officials said as Hyderabad and Chennai are still Red Zones, they left with no other option but to resume the bus services only after the situation improves there.
RTC Executive Director (Operations) KS Brahmananda Reddy said that it was a tough task for the RTC to resume operations between Vijayawada and Guntur as the two cities are Red Zones.“The transport corporation has already started modifications in various buses. Seating capacity will be limited to 15-20 and the number may increase depending on the size of the bus. At present, modifications are being made in Super Luxury and Palle Velugu buses as they have maximum passenger occupancy ratio (OR) when compared to other ones. “We are planning to arrange thermal scanners at the major bus stations and do away with open thoroughfare and have a single entry and exit point,” Reddy informed.