Himachal Government all set to resume bus services from June 1

Himachal Pradesh Government has decided to resume bus services from June 1, 2020. After seeking approval from the Cabinet sub-committee, the state Transport Department has decided to start operating intra-district and inter-district public transport services.

State Transport Minister Govind Singh Thakur said now that both the Centre and the state governments are easing the curfew, things will resume in an organised and phased manner only after assessing everything.
He also said that the public transport will be resumed from June 1 with only ‘60 percent capacity’ to maintain social distancing norms. He further added that the Himachal Government has asked the private operators to resume bus services with the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) starting June 1.

If everything goes fine, Himachal Pradesh will resume its bus services with all necessary arrangements and precautions. The Minister informed that the state government is looking after every section of the society and offering relief as required, and as of now, the state road tax has been waived off for four months. Also, there won’t be any hike in the bus fare, as part of the government’s relief measures.
The state Transport Department is ready to provide sanitisers, masks and face shields to all the bus drivers and conductors to protect them against the deadly virus.

Himachal Pradesh has witnessed a huge surge in COVID-19 positive cases in the past 23 days. As of now, the hill state has recorded 281 Coronavirus positive cases and 5 deaths. But with public transportation resuming soon, experts believe that the cases would definitely witness a hike in the coming times.