Passengers Without Masks, Online Ticket Won't Be Allowed On Haryana Buses

The buses will not be started in areas severely affected by COVID-19. (Representational)

Online booking and wearing masks will be must for passengers boarding the Haryana Roadways buses which are to start plying on select routes in the state from Friday, said Transport Minister Mool Chand Sharma.

Initially, the buses will ply from ten depots of Ambala, Bhiwani, Hisar, Kaithal, Karnal, Narnaul, Panchkula, Rewari, Rohtak and Sirsa on select point-to-point routes, he said.

"No passenger will be allowed to board the bus if online booking has not been done. The bus services will be point-to-point on select routes and wearing masks will be mandatory. Thermal screening of passengers will also be done," Mr Sharma told PTI over phone on Thursday.

The Haryana government has already sanitised its bus terminals and the ordinary non-air-conditioned buses which will hit roads, he said.

To ensure that social distancing is strictly followed, only 30 passengers will be allowed to board the 52-seater buses. In the bus terminuses too, passengers will have to maintain social distancing in the waiting area, he said.

Digitally addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Haryana Chief Minister M L Khattar had announced that public transport will resume operation in the state on an "experimental basis" from Friday, with a limited number of buses plying on select routes.

A government spokesman, meanwhile, said the buses, which will ply within Haryana, will not be started in areas severely affected by COVID-19.

He said bookings for these buses can only be done through the online portal www.hartrans.gov.in and passengers with only confirmed booking will be allowed to enter the bus stand.

"The buses will ply from Haryana State Transport bus stands to the scheduled bus stands. No passenger will be allowed to board or disembark the bus on the way," he added.

He said if the bus movement is not possible on any route due to any reason, the passengers will be informed two hours before the scheduled time of departure. The fare paid by the passenger will be refunded, he added.

Meanwhile, to provide relief to its natives who are stranded in Delhi owing to the lockdown and are eager to return to their districts or wish to reach New Delhi Railway Station from their residential district, Mool Chand Sharma said the state government has decided to ply state transport buses from May 18 for the convenience of such people.

While stating this in an official statement on Thursday evening, Mr Sharma said the buses will operate from New Delhi Railway Station to the scheduled bus stands of Haryana Roadways and no passenger will be allowed to board or get off from the bus en route. Buses passing through coronavirus-affected districts will take the bypass or flyover route, he said.