In a more or less deserted premise of Birsa Munda Bus terminal in the capital city, staff of private buses were desperately looking for passengers after the Jharkhand Government permitted intrastate bus service as part of un-lockdown 4 from Tuesday.
But they were left disappointed as passengers hardly turned-up. “Don’t know how long this situation will prevail. Fearing Covid-19 people are avoiding public transport. This virus has ruined our life,” said Munna, a staff member of a private bus.
Even bus owners sounded worried saying Covid-19 badly hit the transport sector and the government must give some relief to bail-out this sector out of the crisis.Few days back the State Government allowed intrastate operation of buses under certain terms and conditions which are mandatory to follow.For instance, no Covid-19 affected person or whose test report is awaited will be allowed to travel.
Masks, gloves and face shields will be mandatory for all occupants of the bus. To maintain social distancing only half of the sitting capacity will be allowed whereas operators will have to ensure proper sanitization of the bus. Also, bus operators will have to keep the record of the passengers“I visited all the bus terminals of the city capital and everywhere the situation was the same. Not more than 10 per cent buses could operate. Many buses were cancelled due to lack of passengers. Nobody can predict when the situation will improve. Bus owners have been the worst ever crisis that will ruin them financially since there is no support from the government side,” said Kishore Mantri, general secretary of Ranchi Bus Owners Association. In Jharkhand there are around 7500 buses registered out of which 3500 buses operate within the state whereas 1500 buses have interstate road permit and remaining are school buses. After nationwide lockdown imposed across the country during the last week of March, to stop the spread of Covid-19, the transport services came to a halt in the State.
Buses remained parked for a long period so developed technical snags due to lack of maintenance. Bus owners said that now they have to spend huge amounts for repair of buses for which they are nor financially capable.
“We are financially bleeding and the worst thing is that the State Government is fleecing us on the name of road tax. We have been asked to pay road tax even during the lockdown period else we have to pay a penalty up to 200 per cent. It is now too hard to survive with no institutional support. We have applied for a loan in a bid to revive the business. Government will immediately take some steps otherwise it will be tough for us to survive,” said president of Jharkhand Bus Owner Association, Krishna Mohan Singh.