On Thursday night, the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) officials rushed 16 buses to the campus of the IIIT Nuzvid to cater to the transport needs of the students who were asked to vacate hostels and go home after the institution declared holidays in view of the advisory on social distancing due to the coronavirus scare.
The officials say there is a sudden spurt in travel by people which they feel is a transition phase. Although there has not been any significant drop in the corporation’s earnings so far, it may scale down operations from Saturday.
The spurt in travel is because of people returning home from different directions to keep the virus at bay. With the shutdown of a large number of engineering colleges, the Intermediate students about to finish their final exams on March 23 and closing down of schools to safeguard students from the virus impact, there is bound to be a drop in the travel demand.
As many as 488 school buses have been stopped. “We’ll have to prune the operations in a phased way in the days to come. We are reviewing the situation every 12 hours and will take decisions accordingly,” said the corporation’s Executive Director (Operations) K. S. Brahmananda Reddy.
Clean-up act
Mr. Reddy said that the staff and workers had been instructed to take up sanitisation of the RTC buses and bus stations and disinfect the depots as well.
Responding to a query on the demand by the workers, especially the bus crew, on supply of masks and other equipment for safety as they come in contact with scores of people during their on-duty hours, the EO said the department had discussed the issue with the medical authorities. “They don’t insist on face masks. They have advocated only social distancing and frequent hand-washing,” he said.
Leaders of the RTC Employees’ Union (EU) have urged the management to supply masks to the drivers and conductors of the buses for their safety. They also want the management to temporarily put on hold the use of breathe analysers against the workers in view of the rapid spread of the virus.
Concession withdrawn
To discourage travelling by senior citizens, said to be the most vulnerable section to spread of the virus, the corporation has withdrawn the 25% concession offered to them in RTC buses, from Friday. “This will remain in effect till further orders,” said Mr. Reddy.
