Authorities have said interstate bus services to and from Delhi are likely to resume from Monday or Tuesday after they were suspended in March following the coronavirus pandemic.
All the three interstate bus terminals (ISBTs) in Delhi—Anand Vihar, Kashmere Gate, and Sarai Kale Khan—would reopen after the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) gave its nod to resume interstate buses in the national capital.
The three ISBTs witnessed a combined footfall of more than 250,000 every day before the pandemic.
More than 3,400 buses from Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and Chandigarh would ply daily.
According to government reports, the transport department is losing more than Rs 5 crore every month after the three ISBTs were shut.
Here is what you need to know:
* Officials have said fewer passengers than usual may board buses and no passenger will be allowed to stand once the ISBTs are operational.
* Provisions are being made for the disinfection of buses after each trip along with the screening of passengers.
* Departures and arrivals of buses will also be staggered to avoid crowding.
* Passengers can travel across state borders without travel passes under the Unlock 2.0 guidelines issued by the central government on June 30.
* Transport officials said some neighbouring states are apprehensive about resuming services as of now because of the high number of Covid-19 cases in the national capital.
* They said Rajasthan has shown an interest in resuming interstate services with 70 buses initially.
* Dheeraj Sahu, Uttar Pradesh’s transport commissioner and managing director of Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC), has said the state is not plying any buses outside UP as a precautionary measure.
* “The UP government will decide when our interstate bus service will resume,” Sahu said.
* Dr Amarpal Singh, Punjab’s state transport commissioner, said the state has resumed interstate transport services.
* “As far as we know, the Delhi government’s interstate bus services are shut. We will consider restarting our bus services to and from Delhi once we hear from them,” Singh said.
Source: HindustanTimes