Bus service resume in Punjab
Public bus services resumed in Punjab on Wednesday almost two months after their suspension in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Chandigarh: Public bus services resumed in Punjab on Wednesday almost two months after their suspension in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Buses of the state-owned Punjab Roadways and Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) plied on select routes in non-containment zones within the state, officials said.
The state government has said inter-state bus services will not resume till May 31.
The central government has allowed buses to be plied in the fourth phase of the countrywide lockdown (from May 18 to May 31) to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Before the start of operations, all buses were sanitised. Passengers had to undergo temperature screening at bus stands before being allowed to board buses, officials said.
There was no rush of passengers at most bus stands in the morning hours, but many people expressed relief at the resumption of bus services.
"I remained stuck for the past two months at Batala because of curfew restrictions. Now I am going back to my home at Balachaur, said Sunny Sharma, one of the passengers at Batala.
At a few places, including Jalandhar and Amritsar, passengers came to bus stands as early as 5 am and complained of not getting buses despite waiting for long. Many passengers complained that they were made to wait till the bus had 50 per cent occupancy.