Bengaluru, May 17: Left to itself, Karnataka will look to spring back towards normalcy under Lockdown 4.0 as the state government is on standby to resume public transport services from May 18, if the Centre allows it.
Though KSRTC and BMTC have been preparing for resumption of services, officials in the two corporations told DH that they cannot make a move till the government makes a decision.
Transport Commissioner N Shivakumar said the department will take a decision based on the state government's orders. "The government will take a call on buses as well as taxi and other transport services," he said.
Senior officials in the state government said Deputy Chief Minister and Transport Minister Laxman Savadi has written to Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari seeking a nod for resumption of the services.
Transport Secretary Gaurav Gupta has written a separate letter to his counterpart in the Union government requesting permission to operate public transport. "The state government wants the services to open. The official has listed out the steps the corporations will take to ensure social distancing other steps that will be taken to check spread of Coronavirus," a source said.
The B S Yediyurappa administration has been bullish on easing lockdown restrictions.
If the Centre empowers the states to define Lockdown 4.0, Karnataka is likely to do away with the red-orange-green zoning of districts and allow public services to resume, except in COVID-19 containment zones. The government is also likely to redefine its containment strategy by micromanaging localities where COVID-19 cases are reported, without letting life in an entire district get affected.
The government has already shown willingness to allow hotels and gyms to open after May 17 subject to social distancing norms and restrictions. In fact, the government has proposed to allow the resumption of all economic activities in standalone establishments. The government, however, is not keen on opening malls, theatres, diners and establishments that have centralized air conditioning.
“Everything depends on the Centre,” Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwath Narayan said. “Our only stand is that the red zone should be treated at par with the other zone when it comes to relaxation.”
The deceased have been identified as Punit Chinnappa Gowda (22), Charan Kushalappa Gowda (22) and Shivaram Gowda (22), all residents of a Kalmakar village near Kukke Subramanya.
Comments
It requires broadening of road system around....same narrow roads but more and more vehicles added in to it....every other day we hear one or other kind of accidents....
Tax payers money going in to the hands of corrupt politicians...not reaching to road broadening work at all....
what i m hearing now a days, in 1 week this the third news i m hearing of the accident.
many Youths lost their life by this kind of long drives.
Really tragic, RIP
my heartfelt condolences to the family,
Add new comment