Interstate buses in Ludhiana record 40% drop in occupancy

BEARING THE BRUNT Interstate buses record 40% drop in occupancy

Interstate buses have recorded double-digit dip in the occupancy rate as the coronavirus outbreak sparked fear of travelling among passengers.

The daily footfall at ISBT has come down to 20,000 from 50,000. (Gurpreet Singh/HT)

According to bus operators, the occupancy rate has dropped by 30% to 40% in less than 10 days.

Despite being a weekend, the footfall at Shaheed Amar Sukhdev Interstate Bus Terminal in Ludhiana was less on Saturday as compared to the previous corresponding period.

PUNBUS Contractual Workers’ Union (Ludhiana depot) president Shamsher Singh said the average daily footfall at the ISBT used to be over 50,000, which has come down to 20,000 in recent days.

“Sharp fall has been seen in the passengers who used to travel to New Delhi to catch flights,” he added.

Ranjit Singh, in-charge of Orbit buses here, said their company ran 45 buses between different states and districts.

“Earlier, the number of passengers in a bus used to be around 50, but it has decreased to as low as 25. Many people have started avoiding travelling to other states due to fear of Covid-19. Most of them are those who used to travel on work purpose or in emergency cases,” he added.

An HT team visited the ISBT on Saturday, only to find out that there was no provision of sanitisers in the buses, neither for passengers nor for drivers and conductors.

Gurpreet Singh, a conductor, who is usually on board a private bus plying between Abohar and Ludhiana, said, “As of now, there are no sanitisers. We have not been even issued any guideline.”

“We just know that number of passengers is decreasing with each passing day,” he added.

Similar claims were made by Kashmir Singh, who drives on Bathinda-Ludhiana route.

He claimed that neither any bus was being sanitised nor they were given any sanitiser.

Punjab Roadways general manager Inderjit Singh Chawla said the department has started disinfecting the buses of Ludhiana depot.

“Apart from this, electronic benefit transfer (EBT) ticketing machines are being properly cleaned and hand sanitisers are being provided to all departments. We will make sanitisers available to the employees in the booking counters as well. A meeting will be convened with private bus operators in the evening today wherein they would be informed about the guidelines and precautions to be taken to avoid the spread of coronavirus,” he added.