Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said that public transport services may resume operations soon and the Government is formulating guidelines for safe usage adhering to social distancing norms to check the spread of Coronavirus.

“Public transport is likely to resume soon… Guidelines will be there,” Road Transport, Highways and MSME Minister Gadkari said addressing members of Bus and Car Operators Confederation of India through video conference.

Advertisement

Public transport has been shut since the first lockdown announcement on March 24. All the domestic and international air travel, movement of trains, metro and inter-state buses for public transport, except those permitted by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) have been prohibited till May 17 to contain the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Gadkari said the opening of transport and highways will go a long way in instilling confidence among the public but cautioned towards maintaining social distance and adopting all safety measures like hand wash, sanitizing, face masks, etc while operating buses and cars.

On demand of a bailout for passenger transport industry, Gadkari said the government is fully aware of their problems, and will fully support them to mitigate their issues.

He said that he is in regular touch with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who are working overtime to uplift the economy during these difficult days of COVID-19 pandemic.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 declared a 21-day countrywide lockdown for the first time to break the chain of transmission of the novel coronavirus pandemic. The restriction was extended on April 14 for another 19 days.

The lockdown was then extended till May 3, which has now again been extended till May 17, although with some relaxations in orange and green zones.

However, businesses and movement of people in containment spots and red zones will remain prohibited.

Meanwhile, taxis and cab aggregators have been permitted, with one driver and two passengers in orange zones.

In green zones or areas with no COVID-19 cases, one can drive with two passengers in a car or ride a two-wheeler without pillion from 7 am to 7 pm.

Also, the Centre has allowed the movement of students, migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists and others stranded at various places due to the ongoing nationwide lockdown that is in place to fight the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Health Ministry last Thursday finalised the list of containment zones and divided the states and districts into different categories according to the COVID-19 situation in these areas.

As per the list, 130 districts fall under the Red Zones, 284 in the Orange Zones and 319 in Green Zones.

After consulting the state governments and the chief secretaries of the states, the health ministry has decided to put all metro cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, in the Red Zone. The Red Zone cities also include Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.