Bus operations at Delhi’s ISBTs to begin today

Interstate bus services are set to resume in Delhi from Tuesday as the three interstate bus terminals (ISBTs) in the national Capital will be thrown open to the public after being shut more than seven months because of Covid-19 restrictions. The number of buses coming from different states, however, will be capped at 50% of pre-Covid times.

Delhi transport minister Kailash Gahlot on Monday reviewed preparations made ahead of the resumption of interstate services and asked officials to ensure strict compliance of the standard operating procedure (SOP).

The three ISBTs at Kashmere Gate, Sarai Kale Khan and Anand Vihar used to cater to 3,500 trips of interstate buses and 2,000 trips of local buses every day before the lockdown.

This will be the first time interstate bus travel will be allowed in Delhi since the lockdown was imposed in the city on March 21 to arrest the spread of Covid-19.

The states that run their buses to and from Delhi include Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and Chandigarh.

According to the SOP prepared by the Delhi government, the interstate buses will be sanitised by the respective depots of bus operators at the point of origin and before their departure from the respective ISBTs.

Thermal checking of both passengers and the bus crew at boarding and at the point of entry to ISBTs will be must.

It will be mandatory for passengers to wear face masks. Buses will run to their seating capacity and no standing passengers will be allowed.

Social distancing will be ensured at the ground station, at the time of boarding of passengers and inside the bus, as per government guidelines.

Social distancing will be done through markers on the ground and waiting areas, similar to the ones in all buses and the metro.

“In addition to these, testing camps for rapid/ RT-PCR tests have been set up at all three ISBTs in case any asymptomatic passenger shows signs of illness after thermal screening. The safety of both passengers and staff and crew are of utmost priority to us,” the minister said.

“We’ve been carefully monitoring patterns of travelling since we resumed bus services. Even though inter-state travel is a challenge, we are ensuring sanitisation at every point. Apart from this, regular announcements and sensitisation of passengers about Covid-19 precautions through audio-visual communication is also being made. There will be a strict ban on the use of gutka, tobacco products, etc., in the ISBT premises,” the minister said.

The decision to reopen the ISBTs was taken on October 23 in a Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) meeting chaired by lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal.

But before the onset of the pandemic, the three ISBTs saw a combined footfall of over 250,000 every day. At least 3,467 buses from various states would ply through these ISBTs every day.

The state government has also allowed Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and cluster buses to operate at full seating capacity, but no passenger will be allowed to stand and travel.