Officials of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) have decided to stop supplying blankets in AC services across the State to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The corporation authorities have instructed the staff to remove curtains in all buses, arrange liquid soaps at the toilets and change seat covers regularly.
APSRTC Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Madireddy Pratap has appealed to the conductors, drivers, traffic inspectors, depot managers and other staff to take measures for preventing the spread of the dreaded virus.
“RTC management should organise awareness programmes for passengers as well as the employees and take steps in all bus stations to avoid outbreak of the virus. The depot managers and the regional managers should ensure hygienic conditions in the bus stations,” the MD said.
At a meeting held here on Wednesday, Mr. Pratap reviewed the implementation of the measures issued by the government in wake of coronavirus in all bus stations and depots with the Executive Directors (EDs), Regional Managers and other officials. He directed the staff to clean the buses with sodium hydrochloride frequently.
Few travellers
The Regional Managers said there was a drop in Occupancy Ratio in many depots in the State for the last couple of days owing to the scare. However, sufficient number of buses were being operated for the convenience of students and the general public, they said.
“We observed a 10% drop in occupancy ratio in some depots. As government declared holidays for educational institutions and advising people to avoid journeys, the occupancy ratio may fall further in the next few days,” an officer who attended the meeting said.
The MD instructed the staff to run all buses to avoid overcrowding. Conductors should allow passengers only as per the seating capacity in the buses and maintain distance between the passengers. He asked the staff to sensitise passengers through public addressing system in all depots on coronavirus and the steps to prevent spread of the disease.
APSRTC is operating about 12,000 buses covering 44 lakh km, and was transporting 65 lakh passengers everyday.
