Will Not Ply Buses With 50% Seating Capacity, Says Odisha Private Bus Owners Body

Bhubaneswar: The All Odisha Private Bus Owners’ Association on Tuesday rejected the government’s decision of plying buses in green zones with 50 per cent seating capacity.

Talking to mediapersons, treasurer of the Association, Barada Acharya said that the state government has taken a suo motu decision without having a meeting with the Association.

“The state government has allowed the plying of buses with 50 per cent seating capacity in the green zone. How can we run the bus? Unless we ply at least 300 km, we cannot bear the travel expenses. We will have a meeting with the Commerce and Transport minister today,” he said.

He also said that passengers who board the bus should undergo the COVID-19 test and the bus driver should be insured against the coronavirus. “Apart from these demands, the memorandum submitted by the Association to the government should also be accepted. Onlt after this, the Association will take a decision in consultation with the district associations. If the government accepts our demands and cooperates with us, we will ply buses,” he added.

It may be recalled that Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Pradip Jena in a press briefing on Monday had said that the buses will ply with passengers up to 50 per cent of their seating capacity exclusively within the green zones without passing through the territory of any red zone or orange zone.

He said that the plying of buses within the green zones shall be further subject to fulfilling other requirements such as valid route permit, registration certificate, fitness certificate, pollution under control (PUC) certificate, insurance etc.