Delhi buses to run with full seating capacity amid surge in Covid-19 cases

Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal has approved the Delhi government's proposal to allow buses to run with full seating capacity, a senior government official said Friday.

The buses are currently running with 20 passengers in view of the outbreak of coronavirus.

The development comes amid Delhi witnessing a resurgence in COVID-19 cases in last few days. As per the Delhi government's latest Health bulletin, a total of 5,891 fresh COVID-19 cases were reported in the last 24 hours.

Baijal, who is the chairman of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), has also approved resuming inter-state bus service and the process to plan a standard operating procedure (SOP) for it is on and the service is likely to restart from next week, the official said.

The inter-state bus service was stopped after a nationwide lockdown was imposed in March, resulting in shutting down of all four inter-state bus terminals in the city.

Baijal has approved the proposal of the Transport department for allowing passengers to the full seating capacity of DTC and Cluster buses, the officer said, adding that the SOP for it will be issued in next one-two days.

The issue of raising the number of passengers in DTC and Cluster buses was raised in a DDMA meeting on October 23. Transport minister Kailash Gahlot had sought permission for full seating without any passenger standing on buses.

The number of DTC and Cluster buses seat up to 40-45 passengers.

Bus stops in the city witnessed long queues as a result of the reduced capacity of passengers allowed in the buses.

Leader of Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri in a statement thanked Baijal for approving the proposal.