Bhubaneswar: A day after private bus operators refused to ply vehicles only in green zones, state government Monday said it was contemplating to start bus services in green zone areas with vehicles carrying 50 per cent of their full capacity.
Commerce and Transport Minister Padmanabha Behera said this after a high-level meeting here. The state has about 15,000 passenger buses which are idle since the lockdown was imposed March 22.
Though MHA guidelines allow running of passenger buses in green zone, the All Odisha Private Bus Owners’ Association expressed reluctance to run vehicles at 50 per cent capacity fearing losses, he said, adding 50 per cent capacity is allowed in order to maintain social distancing.
However, the minister said, the government has been considering some relaxation for bus owners so that they will not sustain losses if they operate the vehicle with 50 per cent of their capacity.
“We have already decided to operate the buses and a proposal in this regard has been sent to the Chief Minister for approval. We hope, the Chief Minister will accept the proposal and buses will run as usual in 16 districts where there is no trace of COVID-19 so far,” Behera told reporters.
Of the 30 districts, 16 are in green zone, 11 in orange zone and three – Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur and Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation are in red zone.
The green districts are Angul, Boudh, Bargarh, Sambalpur, Gajapati, Jagatsinghpur, Kandhamal, Malkangiri, Mayurbhanj, Nabarangpur, Nayagarh, Nuapada, Rayagada, Sonepur, Cuttak and Puri. Buses can ply within such districts or between them.
Similarly, Khurda (except Bhubaneswar), Sundargarh, Kendrapara, Koraput, Keonjhar, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Bolangir, Dhenkanal, Kalahandi and Ganjam are in orange zone.
Meanwhile, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Pradip Jena issued an order allowing buses to ply only within an area or a district declared green zone. Jena said buses will ply with passengers up to 50 per cent of seating capacity.
Buses will have to operate exclusively within green zones, without passing through a red zone or an orange zone area.