'72,000 people carried by Bengal govt buses during lockdown': Transport minister Suvendu Adhikari

The state transport undertakings in West Bengal have carried 72,000 passengers till May 9 since the commencement of the lockdown, providing more than 2,300 buses, a minister said on Sunday.

Transport minister Suvendu Adhikari said the department also hired more than 260 private vehicles for transportation of 7,500 people during the lockdown period, he said.

The government buses were run by the West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC), the South Bengal State Transport Corporation (SBSTC) and the North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC), he said. The transport department has also provided over 100 vehicles to other state units engaged in fighting the COVID-19 outbreak, Adhikari said.

In order to ensure safety of crew members and staff of the government buses, 3,000 PPE sets, hand gloves, face shields and shoe covers were procured, he said. The transport department is also procuring 150 machines for sanitsing and thermal guns for the safety of passengers and staff, the minister said.

Over 500 labourers from Darjeeling, Alipurduar and Uttar Dinajpur districts were brought to South 24 Parganas by buses on Sunday, an official said. All of them underwent medical screening, and their swab samples were collected for tests, he said, adding that they were advised to stay in home quarantine.

Meanwhile, the government bus services were started in Bankura, which has been declared a green zone, from Sunday, a district official said. The transport department decided to run SBSTC buses in some routes within Bankura district after the private operators expressed their inability to run their vehicles with maximum 20 passengers at a time, claiming that it would cause huge losses to them.