Passengers arriving on private buses in Pune to undergo thermal screening

Rush for tickets has increased in the last one month as no e-pass is required to travel on these buses.

PUNE Passengers arriving on private buses in the city will undergo a thermal screening, as per a decision taken by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) commissioner Vikram Kumar on Thursday.

On Thursday, ventilators donated by the Shiv Sena were handed over to PMC officials at the PMC HQ in Shivajinagar in Pune. (HT)

Currently, there are no clear guidelines on these passengers and since no e-pass is required to travel on these buses, the rush for tickets has increased in the last one month.

Given that Covid numbers are plateauing in the city now, the PMC does not want to take a risk, hence the thermal screening.

“Passengers coming from outside the state need to submit an RT-PCR negative report, but for passengers within the state there is no such compulsion. A large number of passengers travel by these private tourist buses within the state, and there is no checking done. When these passengers come to Pune they directly get involved in their day-to-day work, and if there is anyone Covid positive with no symptoms, it will lead to a spread of the infection. It has been decided that thermal screening of all such passengers on private tourist buses will be dne,” said Kumar.

In Pune, at the four main exit roads of the city, viz Ahmednagar road, Hadapsar, Solapur road and Katraj, there has been rush of passengers to board these private buses.

Welcoming this decision of the PMC, Shantaram Kenjale, a regular inter-district traveller, said, “It is risky to travel by private buses and during lockdown an as e-pass is not required. When thermal checking is done, at least there will be some monitoring of symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. It will certainly reduce the spread of the infection.”