Bengaluru, May 17: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Transport Minister Laxman Savadi on Sunday wrote to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari requesting to issue new lockdown guidelines including permission to operate public transport and said the lockdown has caused a financial loss of Rs 16,00 crore to all four Karnataka Transport Undertakings.
In view of these problems, the state Transport Minister requested Gadkari to permit the deployment of Non-AC buses on scheduled routes to ensure the adequacy of services.
The four State Transport Undertakings (STUs) in Karnataka which are providing bus-based public transport services within the state and to the neighbouring states are Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC), North Eastern Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NEKRTC) and Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC).
"KSRTC, NWKRTC and NEKRTC operate buses for mofussil services i.e. Interdistrict, intradistrict and interstate, whereas BMTC operates only in urban and suburban areas in the city of Bengaluru. The four STUs put together hold a fleet of about 24,900 buses including 1,520 air-conditioned buses and operate about 71.00 lakh km. per day and carries about 98.00 lakh passengers every single day," Savadi outlined in the letter.
The Minister said due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the lockdown that ensued have brought regular bus operations and functioning to a grinding halt.
"This has caused a devastating impact on the operations of all the four STUs due to the combination of lack of revenue and continuing fixed costs such as salaries and pensions to staff, payables against existing loans etc. It has been estimated that the lockdown has caused a financial loss of INR 1,600/- crore to these four STUs," he added.
Savadi said even after post-COVID lockdown, operations and revenues won't reach its previous demand& supply patterns in the next six to eight months due to reduced economic activity and users' perceived risk of contacting COVID in public transport.
In addition to that, "occupancy should be allowed up to seating capacity (without standees). This is essential to meet minimal demand," he said in the letter.
"The crew should wear facemask and hand gloves. The crew with health issues should not be deployed. The face masks should be made mandatory for all the passengers. Only asymptomatic persons should be allowed to travel in public transport. The Government of India may consider staggering working hours for various sectors to reduce peak hour traffic demand," the minister listed out these recommendations in the letter.
Savadi said that with social distancing norm of reduced seating capacity in public transport, it will not be possible to provide transport facility to all the daily passengers. This will create demand for more buses, which cannot be met.
"Restrictions on public transport will lead to passenger commute by overcrowding in smaller vehicles like cars, maxi cabs, goods tempos etc. which will adversely affect preventive measures," he added.
Therefore, Savadi requested Union Minister to look into the above matter and issue fresh guidelines to all the states / UT's.
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ramadam went came again again went .He is not seen like you .Pls do not bring religion in all things
hello bhai super pls send u r no. all the best
Rana krishna 10 Cross heghe nagar
hi zaid bro welcome to bollywood industry
May almighty Allah guide all Muslim ummah to the straight path. Ameen.
Holy month of Ramadan, film releasing, so sad!
Br. Zaid, may Allah guide you to be a good and religious muslim. Whatever your physical apperance is, from Allah, it's not of your's. It is like a floating buble on the surface of stream of water. It won't appear for a long, so like we, the human beings. After that, you think of your physical appreance. In this holy month of Ramadan each & every Muslim maximum trying to obey Allah & get pleased by Him. Don't think that the life what we are enjoying is the real life, but our real life really means from the moment of our death. So, fear Allah and refrain from your present decission and put all your efforts to be a good practical muslim and there by teach your dad & whole family about \deen e islam. May Allah bless you forever to make use of your tallents to study, practise & preach the correct deen in its origial shape. By your Brother in Islam. Yaa ayyu alladeena aamanu koo amfusikum va ahleekum naara, this ayath of quran reminds every muslim to safe guard them selves and fellow muslims from the hell fire."
Not necessary all Khans should be a super hit. Look at those Khans like ZAHID Khan, Imran Khan, Ayyub Khan, Kamal Khan and so on and so forth. They are not been seen now.
Good news in Ramadan. The Khan rule is all set to begin in Kannada film industry (sandalwood) like Bollywood. Congratulations to Zaid Khan the future super star of south India. Good that you r starting your film career in Ramadan. that too in last 10 days of Ramadan. wah kya kamal ki batth. masha allah. swarga guarantee...
all khans are ganapathi khans.. severel years back mr zameer ahmed had given ganapati idol to mr kumarswamy as his birth day gift.. that mean this khan also is a devoti of ganapati like bolly wood khan sharuk and salman keep it up
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