After a gap of several weeks, the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) resumed inter-district and intra-district bus services in Villupuram, Cuddalore and Kallakurichi districts on Monday following relaxations in the COVID-19 lockdown announced by the State government.
The Villupuram Division of TNSTC comprising of 10 districts including Villupuram, Cuddalore and Kallakurichi operated around 2,254 buses on the first day.
Villupuram District Collector D. Mohan, who inspected the bus stand in Villupuram, instructed the crew to follow all the norms according to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) issued by the government.
According to the SOP, only 50% of the seats must be occupied and hand sanitisers must be made available for passengers. The conductors must ensure that all passengers wear face masks for the entire duration of the journey.
A TNSTC official said that the buses constituted only 50% of the total fleet in the districts. The patronage was normal on the first day and the bus operations would be gradually increased in the coming days. No buses are being operated to neighbouring Puducherry, he said.
Bus drivers and conductors have been provided with masks and the buses would be disinfected at the end of every trip.
TNSTC has vaccinated more than 93 % of the bus crew in the three districts so far, the official added.
