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Kanpur: At least 13 conductors of the city bus service were suspended, while its 14 drivers were removed with immediate effect after they were found to be flouting Covid-19 safety norms in the city on Thursday.
Divisional commissioner Raj Shekhar and six of his subordinates in the garb of common passengers on Thursday took a surprise ride on the city buses on various routes to check out the ground reality of Covid guidelines and the status of services of the city bus transportation.
Commissioner Raj Shekhar said that he conducted the surprise check of two city buses—UP 78 BY 5708 from Harsh Nagar to Chunni Ganj and UP 78 BT 5698 from Rawatpur to Harsh Nagar. He bought the bus tickets on their usual rates to travel.
“It was found that in both the buses, the driver and conductors were not wearing the masks, besides the prescribed uniform. It was also observed that more than half of the passengers were without masks,” said the commissioner.
He further said that there was not even a first aid box in the buses and the LED display boards were also not functional.
“The General maintenance of the buses was in a pathetic state. In one case, it was found that the conductor took money for the ticket, but didn’t issue the ticket to the passenger,” said the official, and added,”It was also observed that half of the passengers were not wearing masks and the conductor also didn’t tell them to do so.”
Suspension of all 13 conductors, who were found not wearing the prescribed uniform and mask, was ordered with immediate effect.
An order to remove all 14 drivers (private service provider drivers) has also been made with immediate effect.
A senior district official said that a departmental inquiry against all the members of enforcement/bus checking team has been ordered for negligence and poor enforcement.
“Also, a show cause notice has been served to the private agency (which maintains the buses and provides drivers) to blacklist it for poor maintenance, supervision and control on drivers,” he said, adding, “A show cause notice is to be issued to the ARM (city bus services) for the same reasons.”
A high level meeting of the city bus corporation has been called on September 9 to discuss the action taken, reports and plans for improvement of the services in the coming days including better bus shelters, LED displays, better schedule and good maintenance.
Divisional commissioner Raj Shekhar and six of his subordinates in the garb of common passengers on Thursday took a surprise ride on the city buses on various routes to check out the ground reality of Covid guidelines and the status of services of the city bus transportation.
Commissioner Raj Shekhar said that he conducted the surprise check of two city buses—UP 78 BY 5708 from Harsh Nagar to Chunni Ganj and UP 78 BT 5698 from Rawatpur to Harsh Nagar. He bought the bus tickets on their usual rates to travel.
“It was found that in both the buses, the driver and conductors were not wearing the masks, besides the prescribed uniform. It was also observed that more than half of the passengers were without masks,” said the commissioner.
He further said that there was not even a first aid box in the buses and the LED display boards were also not functional.
“The General maintenance of the buses was in a pathetic state. In one case, it was found that the conductor took money for the ticket, but didn’t issue the ticket to the passenger,” said the official, and added,”It was also observed that half of the passengers were not wearing masks and the conductor also didn’t tell them to do so.”
Suspension of all 13 conductors, who were found not wearing the prescribed uniform and mask, was ordered with immediate effect.
An order to remove all 14 drivers (private service provider drivers) has also been made with immediate effect.
A senior district official said that a departmental inquiry against all the members of enforcement/bus checking team has been ordered for negligence and poor enforcement.
“Also, a show cause notice has been served to the private agency (which maintains the buses and provides drivers) to blacklist it for poor maintenance, supervision and control on drivers,” he said, adding, “A show cause notice is to be issued to the ARM (city bus services) for the same reasons.”
A high level meeting of the city bus corporation has been called on September 9 to discuss the action taken, reports and plans for improvement of the services in the coming days including better bus shelters, LED displays, better schedule and good maintenance.
