Interstate bus services resumed on select routes

With cases of Covid-19 declining in the city, the Haryana Roadways on Tuesday resumed interstate bus service on select routes after almost one-and-a-half months. Interstate bus service has been started to Jaipur and Alwar in Rajasthan and Lakhanpur in Jammu and Kashmir in a limited manner.

With cases of Covid-19 declining in the city, the Haryana Roadways on Tuesday resumed interstate bus service on select routes after almost one-and-a-half months.

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Kuldip Singh Dhaka, general manager, Haryana State Road Transport Corporation, said that interstate bus service has been started to Jaipur and Alwar in Rajasthan and Lakhanpur in Jammu and Kashmir in a limited manner. Before resuming the service, the transport department conducted a dry run on these routes last week.

Dhaka said that they are strictly following the Covid-19 guidelines and only 30 passengers are allowed in each bus, which has a maximum capacity of 50. “Three buses have started operation on Gurugram to Jaipur route, while one bus each goes to Alwar and Lakhanpur daily,” said Dhaka.

Transport officials said that the commuters travelling to Katra were allowed only till Lakhanpur in Jammu and Kashmir due to restrictions on the entry of buses from outside the state. Visitors to Katra have to take a connecting bus from Lakhanpur.

Officials said that the bus service to Chandigarh is already operational and 10 buses are operating on this route every day. However, air-conditioned buses on this route are still not operational, as per directions of the headquarters.

Dhaka also said that the corporation is ready to start bus services to Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, among other states, as and when the state government allows it. Bus services was suspended during the second Covid-19 wave, after a lockdown was imposed across the state on May 3.

Rajbir Singh, a traffic inspector at the Gurugram bus depot, said that buses operating from the depot will not stop anywhere along the route. The buses will stop only at the destination and passengers would not be allowed to embark or disembark en route. The department will also screen passengers for Covid-19 symptoms, ensure masks are worn and safe distancing is maintained inside the buses, he said.