1,010 buses operated in Salem division

Salem/Udhagamandalam: As many as 1,010 buses were operated on Monday by the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) in the Salem region comprising Namakkal, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts.

Similarly, buses were operated between six districts of the first zone.

Salem, Namakkal, Karur, Erode, Tirupur , Coimbatore and Nilgiris districts fall under first zone.

“We started bus operations between these seven districts since Monday morning,” said Salem district collector S A Raman. He said 50% of buses were operated with 60% of passengers .

According to the TNSTC, 397 buses including 262 town buses and 135 mofussil buses were operated in Salem district while 162 buses in Namakkal district, 208 in Dharmapuri district and 243 in Krishnagiri district were operated. “We have operated a total of 1,010 from these four districts,” a senior official from the Salem division TNSTC told TOI.

However, passenger capacity was less compared with normal days from Salem to other districts of first zone. The passengers were allowed inside the buses only after sanitizing their hands.

Similarly, the officials completely disinfectant the buses before operating from the bus stands, twice a day. “We have instructed conductors to allow only those passengers who wear face mask,” the official said. If any passenger is found without mask, he/she will be fined, and departmental inquiry will be initiated against the conductor.

Similarly, buses were operated from Erode district to all the five districts including Salem and Coimbatore.

In the Nilgiris, which falls under zone-I, 160 government buses were operated on Monday.

However, the district administration has warned those trying to enter the district without valid reasons.

Pointing out the government’s order that tourism activities in the Nilgiris are not opened, collector J Innocent Divya said, “People cannot take this relaxation in movement within the zone without e-permit as an opportunity to travel to the Nilgiris. Tourism is prohibited here till further orders from the government.”

She said, “If people are found travelling to the Nilgiris unnecessarily, their vehicles will be seized, and action will be taken against them under the Disaster Management Act”.

Details, including purpose of travelling, of people travelling to the Nilgiris by public transport or by taxi or own vehicles will be collected at all the check posts located at the entry points of the district. Travellers should adhere to the standard operation procedures prescribed by the government, according to the collector.

In connection with traffic on the Ooty-Coonoor-Mettupalayam Road and Ooty-Kotagiri-Mettupalayam Road, Divya said, “We will monitor the traffic for two days. If the traffic seemed heavy, we will make the routes one way.”