Following orders of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), the public transport on Monday operated with a 50% capacity in view of the spike in COVID-19 cases in the Capital.
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) officials said that protocols which were enforced in September last year, following the resumption of metro services post-lockdown, continued to be in place.
“As per the SOP implemented since resumption of services, the DMRC is already following the alternate-seat concept and standing with social distancing which comes to less than 50% going by the carrying capacity of coaches. Apart from that, Regular announcements, self regulation and flying sqauds are all ways to educate and alert commuters for their safety,” a DMRC official said.
In a bid to restrict overcrowding inside stations, the DMRC had recently, also started closing entry gates to stations, for brief periods of time, which saw a high footfall.
Stations shut
On Monday, entry to stations like Hauz Khas, Samaypur Badli, Seelampur and Shastri Park were closed temporarily as a part of DMRC’s crowd-control measures.
Flying squads inside the coaches fined 526 commuters on April 11, 600 commuters on April 10, 630 commuters on April 9 and 648 passengers on April 8 for not following COVID-19 protocol during their journey.
On Saturday, the DDMA had ordered prohibition of all kinds of gatherings, reduced the number of people permitted at weddings and funerals and said that public transport would operate at half of their seating capacity.
Transport officials said that restrictions were being enforced due to which at some places people had to wait for a longer duration.
