PATNA: State transport department on Saturday fined 123 private and public vehicle drivers and passengers for violating
Covid safety guidelines.
The state government issued fresh guidelines on Friday, allowing public transport to function with only 50% seating capacity in the wake of an alarming increase in the number of Covid-19 positive cases.
However, some auto-rickshaw drivers rued that curbing the number of passengers will result in dire economic consequences for daily wage earners, reducing their per day income by half.
"What used to be 12 rounds with 60 passengers on board, will now be 12 rounds with only 30 passengers," said Sunny Kumar, an auto-rickshaw driver plying between Hanuman Nagar and
Patna Junction.
Another auto-rickshaw driver, Sumant echoed, "The earnings will be consumed in fuel refill and vehicle maintenance and no personal savings will be gained this way."
Meanwhile, an official of the
Bihar State Road Transport Corporation (BSRTC) said all bus drivers and conductors are to ferry just the permissible number of passengers. "Use of masks by drivers and passengers is compulsory, alternate seating arrangements are also being strictly adhered to," he said.
Rajeev Roshan, a city-based taxi operator, said he is now allowing only two office goers to carpool instead of four. "Passengers themselves have refused to travel with someone else. I have also put up transparent curtains, barricading the front seats from the back," he told this newspaper.
Residents are also avoiding the use of public transport to reduce the risk of contracting the virus. Buddha Colony resident, Saket Singh said, "No matter what the guidelines instruct, nobody wears a mask. It’s safer not to use public transport in the present scenario."
Since marketing professional Mehul Singh's company has shifted to the work-from-home mode again, he no longer requires public transport to commute. "With my office closed, I don’t need to move out of my home as all essential things can be bought online these days," he said.