Govt buses may ply, Sunday full shutdown unlikely in Sept

But certain relaxations like opening of government bus services and medium-sized temples are under consideration, a senior official said, hinting that withdrawal of total lockdown on Sundays are also being discussed, but a final decision was yet to be taken. Metro Rail will also remain closed and TN will issue fresh orders any time, the official said.

Earlier, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, who held a review meeting with District Collectors, said the government has so far spent Rs 7,162 crores to fight the pandemic and has set up 1.36 lakh beds for COVID patients, including 58,840 in government and private hospitals, and 77,223 beds in quarantine centres. The State also procured 2,882 additional ventilators to meet any contingency, Palaniswami said. The State has achieved a recovery rate of 85.45% with 3,49,682 people recovering, the highest in the country, EPS claimed. Pointing out that the State had a mortality rate of 1.7 per cent, he urged the Collectors to continue monitoring public movement. In a statement, EPS said the State has 146 testing facilities, including 83 private units with 45.73 lakh people being tested so far. Palaniswami also said his government set apart Rs 200 crore under the COVID-19 Relief and Upliftment Scheme (CORUS) to mitigate the hardship of MSMEs. 

After remaining off the road for months since lockdown was imposed following COVID-19 outbreak, the State-run buses are likely to resume services from September 1. The move came after the lockdown norms were relaxed, said officials from Transport Department, adding that restrictions including compulsory masks for passengers and cap on capacity would be in place.

Bus services were suspended from the end of March after lockdown was imposed from March 25. Services in districts were resumed from June 1, except for Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu where the infection numbers remained high. Later, after experts including the medical experts part of the State panel raised concerns about the rise in numbers and linked it to opening up of bus service, it was suspended once again from July 1. Now, the State government is likely to give the go-ahead for resumption of public transport services, especially buses, as stoppage of services has hit the economically backward section of the population the hardest, said official sources from Transport Department. “The buses will be allowed to operate with restrictions, including the compulsory wearing of masks and a cap on passenger intake to 60 per cent of seated capacity,” sources said. Sivasubramaniam Jayaraman, manager, transport systems, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy – India, said Tamil Nadu needs to restart public transport services urgently.

“Experience around the world suggest public transport is safe with simple measures like wearing masks, basic sanitation and by avoiding talking during the journey,” he said, citing the example of Bengaluru which is operating 4,500 buses since June. There, buses are being operated with full seating capacity. As businesses and workplaces have started operating, people need public transportation to get around, he added.