Deepavali rush throws COVID norms into disarray
CHENNAI: With several people leaving to their hometowns to celebrate Deepawali, buses operated by both the State-run transport corporations and private operators were running almost at full capacity, throwing COVID-19 social distancing norms into the wind.
As of Wednesday 7 pm, as many as 68,604 passengers have boarded 1,692 Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation and State Express Transport Corporation buses, including 101 special buses operated from the city to various parts of the State. On average, 40 passengers travelled on a bus, which is against the social distancing norms.
If the social distancing norms are followed, an ordinary bus operated by the TNSTC could carry a maximum of 34 passengers, against its seat capacity of 55. In case of ultra-deluxe buses, 20 passengers against its capacity of 40 seats. In the non-sleeper-cum-seater buses, 30 passengers could travel on it.
A conductor of TNSTC Villupuram said most of the passengers were travelling with their family to hometowns and they wanted to be seated next to each other in the bus. “But we are insisting them not to remove face masks at any time,” he noted.
An official of the corporation said that there has been very less crowd at the Koyambedu this year, when compared to previous years. “One will not have space to walk at Koyambedu during Deepavali season. The passengers were allowed entry into the terminus only after checking their temperature and if they wore masks,” the official added.