Transport Department to continue random checks for buses

The Transport Department officials will continue to conduct random checks in Coimbatore to ensure all private buses are adhering to the COVID-19 standard operating procedures (SOP) issued by the State government.

Official sources said that complaints of a few private buses not adhering to the precautionary measures, such as wearing of masks and ensuring personal distancing inside the buses, have surfaced in the city. Motor vehicle inspectors from the Regional Transport Offices along with the police and Corporation officials will carry out the random checks at various points in the city. The random checks will also be done for Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation buses, the sources said.

With the COVID-19 cases on the decline in the district, all private bus operators have been instructed that the drivers and conductors adhere to the SOPs. If any buses were caught violating the precautionary measures during the random checks, they will either be let off with a warning or a check report will be issued, according to the sources.

V. Duraikannan, president of Coimbatore District Bus Owners’ Association (South), said that around 80 to 85 % of all the private buses adhere to the SOPs while some bus operators might have been careless in terms of implementing the precautionary measures as the COVID-19 cases are declining. “We are continuously giving instructions to them,” he said.