Kolkata: In the coming days, people might not see the faces of bus drivers and conductors as they will be wearing personal protective equipment [PPE] suits during the bus trips to protect themselves against the Covid-19.
"Apart from the arrangement of the seats, passengers are being sanitised while boarding a bus. It is a very good initiative. We appreciate the effort of the State Transport department for taking this initiative for the drivers and conductor who are the actual Coronavirus warriors risking their lives and offering us the bus service," said Asif Alam, a bus passenger and a resident of Raja Bazar.
While the state Transport department launched a drive to disinfect all its buses in depots on a regular basis in the wake of Coronavirus outbreak on March 13, it is running buses on 15 routes as skeletal bus services connecting different parts of the city ensuring proper facilities.
According to WBTC sources, the provision of PPE to the drivers and conductors was in addition to the supply of masks and hand sanitisers.
This apart, the buses are being completely sanitised at the respective depot before they leave in the morning
with the same exercise carried out after the vehicles return back to the depots.
On Saturday, state Transport minister Suvendu Adhikari had said that at present 15 routes are being operated in the city by WBTC from 7 am to 7 pm, which will be increased and better frequency will also be ensured. As part of emergency services, buses are running at a regular interval of one hour at present.
The buses plying on various the routes across the city include S24 between Howrah and Kamalgazi, S12 between Howrah and New Town, S-7 and S-5 between Howrah and Garia, S-12D between Howrah and Thakurpukur, C-26 between Howrah and Baruipur, C-37 between Esplanade and Amtala, S9A between Dunlop and Ballygunge, S9 between Jadavpur and Karunamoyee, C-8 between Joka and Barasat, SD-7 between Ultadanaga and Salt Lake, s-37 between Barasat and Garia and SD-6 between Tollygunge to Karunamoyee.