Hours after the Tamil Nadu government allowed long-distance buses to run ahead of the full-fledged lockdown, passengers started trickling into the Dr. MGR Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus (CMBT) to travel to their home towns.
The government has announced the operation of 1,500 buses from Chennai and of over 3,000 buses between Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Tiruchi, Madurai and other districts on Saturday and Sunday. MTC buses will ferry people to Tambaram and the CMBT.
“We have our entire fleet on standby, and are ready to meet the rush. We have a sufficient number of buses from districts like Kanniyakumari to Chennai. This is mainly to ensure that no one, especially daily-wage workers, are stuck in the city or elsewhere and able to reach their home towns. At short notice, we called our crew members back and started operations,” Transport Secretary C. Samayamoorthy said.
According to the Transport Department, the last bus to Marthandam will leave at 6 p.m. on Sunday and the one to Nagercoil and Tuticorin at 7 p.m. Buses to Tirunelveli and Dindigul will leave at 8 p.m. and the service to Madurai at 11.30 p.m. The last service to Tiruchi will be at 11.45 p.m.
But there was not much of a crowd after the announcement. Around 5 p.m., the first bus to Hosur left with passengers. “All of them were asked to wear masks. Only two passengers were seated in the three seats. However, two persons occupied the two seats. They were made to use sanitisers,” said a driver of the State Express Transport Corporation. Passengers were happy. “I am a daily-wage worker and I was stuck here. I am happy I can visit my family. The government can operate more buses to ensure personal distancing,” said N. Kumar, travelling to Hosur.
However, some CMBT staff members said the decision would drive the COVID-19 cases up in the districts and in the city. “We are not sure how many asymptomatic people will travel on these buses. But we are ensuring all precautions,” said one of them. The police were roped in to ensure compliance with safety norms.
“We were asked to note down the number of passengers on a bus and the time of its departure. Our personnel checked whether all passengers wore masks,” said an officer.
