Karnataka: Wearing face mask compulsory for ride on BRTS buses

HUBBALLI: In order to make the Hubballi-Dharwad Bus Rapid Transit System (HDBRTS) a safer mode of travel during this pandemic, HDBRTS officials have ordered all the station staff not to issue tickets to those who turn up at the station without wearing a face mask.
The HDBRTS has taken the decision following repeated complaints from the public, that in the HDBRTS Chigari buses people are not following safety protocols.
Vivekanand Vishwajnya, divisional controller of the Hubballi-Dharwad city division, said that he has already instructed ticket vendors at all stations not to issue tickets to those who turn up at the station to board a bus without wearing a proper face mask.
The move is to curb the spread of Covid-19. The security personnel deployed at the station will ensure that those having passes are wearing masks while boarding buses, he said.
He also said that the bus driver will also ensure that every passenger is wearing a mask during the ride.
“Wearing a mask is an important measure to prevent the spread of Covid-19, and people should understand their responsibility in containing the pandemic, and hence they should cooperate by wearing a mask during their journey, for their own safety as well as the safety of others,” said Vivekanand.
Dr Rajshekhar Dyaberi, an ophthalmologist, said that he recently travelled on a Chigari bus, which he boarded at Vidyanagar station, and found that many passengers were not wearing masks. He said that the AC Volvo bus did not have proper ventilation, and many people may have been infected, as they were not wearing masks.
“I was standing as the seats were occupied, and I found that hand sanitisers were not available at the stations. The bars and handles on the bus to grip while standing may have had fomites on them, which could spread the infection, if hands were not sanitised at regular intervals,” he said.
When this issue was brought to the notice of the higher officials of the NWKRTC, they said that they would look into the matter. Not only in Chigari buses, but in normal buses too, people are not wearing face masks. there is no provision for the staff to fine those not wearing masks,” said an NWKRTC official.