Delhi Transport Minister reviews preparation, SOPs ahead of resumption of inter-state bus services
Nov 02, 2020
New Delhi [India], November 2 : Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot on Monday reviewed the preparations ahead of resuming Inter-state bus services in Delhi from November 3.
The meeting was attended by senior officers from the Transport Department, Delhi Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (DTIDC), Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), and Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Ltd. (DIMTS).
The three Inter-state Bus Terminals (ISBTs) at Kashmere Gate, Sarai Kale Khan, and Anand Vihar, used to cater to passengers to a tune of 3,500 trips of inter-state buses and 2,000 trips of local buses daily.
For the first time, inter-state bus travel will be allowed in Delhi since the COVID-19 lockdown was announced by the Government of India. (GoI)
For ensuring the safety of both passengers and crew, detailed Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) have been put in place prior to resuming services.
"The inter-state buses shall be sanitized by the respective Depots of bus operators at the point of origin and before departure from the respective ISBT. Thermal checking of both passengers and bus crew at boarding and at the point of entry to ISBTs will also be mandatory," the Transport department said.
According to the department, passengers have to mandatorily wear face masks and no standing passengers will be allowed in the buses. Social distancing will be ensured on the ground station, at the time of boarding of passengers, and inside the bus as per government guidelines.
"These will be done through markers on the ground and waiting areas, similar to the ones in all buses and metro. In addition to these, testing camps for Rapid/ RT-PCR tests have also been set up at all 3 ISBT's in case any asymptomatic passenger shows signs of illness post thermal screening," the department added.
Meanwhile, Gahlot said that the government has been carefully monitoring patterns of travelling since the bus services have resumed.
"The safety of both passengers and staff and crew are of utmost priority to us. We've been carefully monitoring patterns of travelling since we resumed bus services, and even though inter-state travel is a challenge, we are ensuring sanitization at every point. Apart from this, regular announcements and sensitization of passengers about Covid-19 precautions through audiovisual communication is also being undertaken. Strict ban on the use of Gutka, Tobacco products, in the premises of ISBTs shall be made," he said.
