Limited transport to resume in TN, no buses in Chennai, 3 dists

Chennai

Resumption of public transport will be implemented from Monday in six of the eight zones, formed by combining neighbouring districts, with a slew of guidelines in place. Call taxies can ply in all the zones with three passengers and the number of passengers in autorickshaws was limited to two. All passengers should mandatorily wear face masks while travelling.

While zone 1 comprises of seven districts – Coimbatore, The Nilgiris, Erode, Tiruppur, Karur, Salem and Namakkal, zone 2 consists of five districts – Dharmapuri, Vellore, Tirupattur, Ranipet, Krishnagiri. Likewise, zone 3 consists of Villupuram, Tiruvannamalai, Cuddalore and Kallakurichi while zone 4 and 5 comprises of the Delta districts, Madurai and adjoining districts. Zone 6 comprises of Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Kanniyakumari and Tenkasi. Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Chengalpattu districts form zone 7, while Chennai police commissionerate limit will be zone 8.

“There would be no need for people to apply for e-pass to travel within the zones,” Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said, adding, all kinds of vehicles can ply inside the zones. “E-passes will be compulsory for inter-zone and inter-State travel,” the Chief Minister said.

According to the guidelines, public transport buses, including private stage carriers in authorised routes would be allowed to operate in all the zones except zone 7 and 8. Only 50 per cent of the fleets of buses will be operated that too with a passenger cap of 60 per cent of the seated capacity.

Rail travellers must mandatorily avail e-pass provided by the government to travel from one zone to another in special trains. However, the pass would not be required for intra-zone or inter-district movement of rail passengers Citing the requirement of government, the Southern Railway has advised passengers to carry the details of PNR number, name, address and phone numbers/printed on a paper.