While buses to the suburban destinations were operated by the private companies on Wednesday, the operators desisted from plying their vehicles within the city, fearing heavy loss every day.
“If we take a few more passengers above the permissible level in the mofussil buses, the officials won’t treat it as an offence. If we do the same thing under the city limits, it will certainly result in the booking of the crew and also detention of the buses. If we operate the buses with lesser number of passengers within the city, it will only cause hefty loss. Hence, we’ve decided to wait,” proprietor of a leading private bus company here said.
Moreover, the private bus owners also say that compelling every passenger to wear masks would not be possible. “Though almost all the passengers travelling from Tirunelveli to mofussil destinations were wearing masks on Wednesday, we could see only a few passengers wearing the safety gear even as they were travelling in the city buses of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation. While the TNSTC bus drivers can enforce strictly this norm in their buses, we’re not in a position to be tough with the commuters,” said the conductor of a private bus. The conductor also said operation of buses with 60% passengers would result in a loss to them.
In Thoothukudi and Tenkasi districts also, private buses were operated only to suburban destinations.