File photo of a bus conductor giving hand sanitizer to a passenger at Tirunelveli New bus stand. (Photo | EPS/ V Karthik Alagu)
TIRUPPUR: Old habits die hard. Some could even prove fatal during an ongoing pandemic. Passengers travelling on a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) bus from Coimbatore on Friday freaked out on seeing the conductor wet his finger using saliva to tear up the tickets. Driven by fear of Covid spread, the passengers reported the incident to the health officials, who warned him and collected his swab samples.
An official from the health department said that the bus was moving towards Tiruppur city and the conductor used his saliva to tear the tickets. The passengers reportedly asked him not to do that but he refused and continued with his work. Following this, health officials arrived intercepted the bus in front of the Collectorate and collected swab samples from the conductor.
The results would be announced in two days, the official added. An official in TNSTC (Coimbatore) said, “We have instructed about the Covid norms to conductors and drivers to be implemented in the bus. Besides, we have also issued instructions not to tear tickets with saliva. But the conductor has violated the instruction. An inquiry will be formed.”
