Practical difficulties come to the fore in enforcing transport restrictions

With restrictions pertaining to transport, including operation of private and government buses with seated passengers alone, MTC officials say there are practical difficulties in properly implementing it, especially during peak hours on working days.

As the number of COVID-19 cases are increasing steadily in the State, the government reintroduced certain restrictions from Saturday. As per the new order, private and government buses plying between the districts and MTC buses running in Chennai will be operated only with seated passengers. No standing passengers will be allowed.

In each bus, there is a seating capacity for 44 passengers and 25 for standing. To enforce the restrictions, the MTC has rolled out 400 more buses especially in bus routes such as Chengalpattu, Guduvancheri, Tambara, Kelambakkam, Semmenchery, Perumbakkam, Manali, Kannagi Nagar, Ambattur and Avadi.

However, on the first day of the restrictions, despite being a weekend, passengers were seen standing inside the buses as the seating capacity was full.

One such route was MTC bus Route 70 at Padi which was crowded. "Prior to COVID-19, 34 lakh passengers used to travel in 3,300 MTC buses per day. After COVID-19 restrictions, the number of passengers dropped to 21 lakh and now it is around 18 lakh passengers. But we are operating around 2,700 to 3,000 buses every day, but still it is a challenge to restrict passengers only to 44," said an MTC official.

He said that during the regular hours, some adjustment can be made as the crowd is lesser. "But we cannot ask passengers to get down as it leads to altercations between the bus crew and the public. To enforce government restrictions properly we need at least 2,000 buses more. Otherwise, the government has to deploy police and transport officials in each bus stop to regulate the crowd or stagger the office hours," said K Arumaga Nainar, general secretary, Tamil Nadu State Transport Employees Federation.

M. Somasundaram, a consumer activist, said that he travelled by MTC route 23C. "Crowd restrictions were not properly followed. Face mask enforcement was also not done and there was no sanitiser at the entry point and buses were not sanitised. The passengers also have to behave sensibly. Checking crew should conduct random checks and make those who are travelling by standing alight," he said.

Meanwhile, rental taxis and cabs should operate with a maximum of three passengers, apart from the driver, according to the order. Autorickshaws can carry a maximum of two passengers, apart from the driver. "It is practically difficult. There are 1.10 lakh autorickshaws. This will affect families who are travelling together. Four members cannot travel in two autorickshaws," M. Sampath, General Secretary, All Auto Driver Associations.

Consumer activists and police said that the government should announce restrictions for share autorickshaws also as there is no clarity on how many passengers can travel in them.

Traffic police officers said that it is difficult to enforce restrictions in share-auto rickshaws. "It is not clear which category they come under and how many passengers can travel in them. Travelling in a congested manner can easily spread the virus and the government is silent about it," said a traffic police officer in T. Nagar.

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