In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the AP State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) has ‘distanced’ itself from people but only to share the government responsibility in this hour of crisis.
The prevailing lockdown in the aftermath of the outbreak of the contagious virus has confined people to their homes. However, the State machinery and the medical authorities are working round the clock to keep people apart and to treat those afflicted with the virus, respectively.
The APSRTC is plying its buses for various purposes like transport of vegetables from farms to the markets in Anantapur and Chittoor districts and moving essential services in Vijayawada, Tirupati and Anantapur towns. “We have deployed eight buses for the purpose in Vijayawada and five each in Tirupati and Anantapur towns,” said Brahmananda Reddy, Executive Director (Operations) of the APSRTC.
The buses are also being put to use to shift people from medical camps set up to check and identify potential carriers of the virus, to the quarantine centres. Informing that the Medical Department had asked for buses to dispatch drugs to various centres, Mr. Reddy said four buses would be deployed for the purpose.
The RTC teams are also working with district Collectors besides coordinating with the staff at the public call centres working round the clock to attend to distress calls. “Our Regional Managers are members of teams engaged in ensuring hassle-free functioning of the network of transportation of essential commodities and other emergency services to reach out to people locked up in their homes fearing the spread of the virus,” said A. Koteswara Rao, ED (Administration), APSRTC.
