THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Travelling by bus has become difficult due to the decision to restrict the number of private buses on the basis of odd-even registration numbers. Commuters are left with two choices, either to wait for a bus with vacant seats or board the bus available even if it is already crowded.
The crowded private buses during peak hours on Monday proved that the office-goers did not have a choice but were forced to disregard social distancing. It happens at a time the health experts and the government have asked the public to be cautious against a third wave of Covid.
“We never had a problem in transportation as we used to get a bus on the Kannur-Kozhikode route every five minutes. But, I waited for almost an hour today to get a bus which was jam packed. The restriction on buses should be lifted. Otherwise, many more people will get infected by travelling in crowded buses,” said Binu Raj, an employee in a private firm in Koyilandy.
The government has allowed private buses to operate from June 17 as part of lifting lockdown restrictions. The buses have to operate on alternate days based on the odd-even number basis. At the same time, the government has allowed offices to operate with 50% staff. The travellers, especially the officer-goers in the northern districts, were hit the most with the decision as the public transport is predominantly in the hands of private bus operators.
Private bus operators have taken a lukewarm approach to the guarded approval to operate services. “There is huge crowding in buses as there are fewer buses. A few bus operators had started service after lockdown to see if it was worth the effort. But many of them have stopped after finding operating services unviable. As a result, the waiting time for passengers for a bus has become longer,” said All Kerala Bus Operators Organisation general secretary T Gopinathan.
According to bus owners, the operation of buses on alternate days for five days in a week would only complicate their problems. “If the government wanted to check its effectiveness, it should have tried it in KSRTC buses first. The rising fuel price has made the operations unviable and it requires an intervention from the government,” said Kerala State Private Bus Operators Federation general secretary Lawrence Babu.