Punjab Local Buses To Run With 50% Occupancy, But No Interstate Buses

Coronavirus lockdown: Local buses in Punjab will start running from Wednesday

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has directed the state transport department to draft a standard operating procedure or SOP to resume local bus services. They will run in all areas except coronavirus containment zones.

The Chief Minister, however, ruled out running inter-state buses till May 31, the scheduled end of the extended lockdown.

The local buses will start running from Wednesday with 50 per cent occupancy to maintain social distancing.

Starting Wednesday we will start running State buses along with pvt buses/mini-buses with reduced capacity to ensure social distancing. These will move point to point to ensure health screening & sanitisation of buses & bus stands in urban areas & will start in rural areas later. pic.twitter.com/FU7yA2XNU8

— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) May 18, 2020

The Punjab government has also decided to run free buses daily to help migrant workers reach 10 districts in Uttar Pradesh.

The buses will run from Jalandhar to Gautam Budh Nagar, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Aligarh, Bulandshehar, Muzzafarnagar, Baghpat, Saharanpur, Mathura and Hapur.

Several other states have announced their own versions of refreshed coronavirus guidelines after the centre allowed them to form their own rules.