Bengaluru: Metro services to resume, BMTC, KSRTC to ply 5,000 buses from Monday as Covid rules eased

Following chief minister BS Yediyurappa's announcement on further relaxing the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions in several districts of Karnataka including Bengaluru, the city is set to resume public conveyance services from Monday.

The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited on Saturday said that Namma metro services will be resumed in the city from Monday, 21 June.

However, the metro services will be shut on weekends owing to the weekend curfew still imposed in the state and the capital city.

On the other hand, after a long gap, state transport undertaking Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) will also operate 2,000 services on major routes of Bengaluru city from June 21, between 6 am to 7 pm. Vaccination is mandatory for all staff, said PRO, BMTC on Sunday.

Further, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) said it planned to operate about 3,000 buses initially from June 21, with the government relaxing COVID-19 restrictions and permitting bus operations with riders. "The Government of Karnataka has issued orders relaxing the Covid-19 restrictions imposed in the state, except in Mysuru District and has permitted bus operations with 50 per cent seating capacity," KSRTC said in a statement.

Karnataka, earlier today, eased Covid relaxations in the state and said that activities will be allowed in 16 districts that have less than 5% positivity. These districts are Uttara Kannada, Belagavi, Mandya, Koppal, Chikkballapur, Tumkur, Kolar, Bengaluru Urban, Gadag, Raichur, Bagalkote, Kalburgi, Haveri, Ramanagara, Yadgir and Bidar will see relaxations.

Under the new set of guidelines, all shops and hotels, clubs, restaurants allowed to operate till 5pm, lodges, resorts, gyms, private offices allowed to operate with 50% capacity in these districts, Yediyurappa said.

Dine-in allowed at hotels, clubs, restaurants (except liquor) without AC until 5pm with 50% seating while buses and metro with 50% seating allowed.

Gyms can be open with 50% strength (without AC).

However, the existing restrictions to continue in all other districts:

-Weekend curfew:Friday 7 pm to Monday 5 am

-Night curfew:7 pm to 5 am

-Swimming pools, places of worship, malls, theaters, AC shopping complexes, pubs to remain shut across state.

The restrictions as ordered on June 11 will continue in 13 districts with positivity rate between five per cent to 10 per cent. These are Hassan, Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, Shivamogga, Chamarajanagar, Chikkamagaluru, Bengaluru Rural, Davangere, Kodagu, Dharwad, Ballari, Chitradurga and Vijayapura.

The June 11 order said the restrictions will be eased from 6 AM to 2 PM, where the sale of essential commodities and delivery through e-commerce companies will continue. The stringent restrictions in Mysuru will continue, the Chief Minister added. However, state-wide night curfew from 7 PM to 5 AM every day would continue and weekend curfew from 7 PM on Friday to 5 PM on Monday will remain in effect till July 5.

The Chief Minister made it clear that easing the curbs should not be taken to mean that there has been a drastic reduction in infections. "Easing restrictions should not be perceived as COVID-19 infections have reduced drastically. The relaxation has been given because people are in distress, business activities have stopped, and livelihoods has become difficult," Yediyurappa said.

He urged people to ensure this relaxation was a success by wearing masks, maintaining social distancing and hand hygiene. The COVID-19 restrictions were imposed from April 27 when the daily infections breached the 50,000 mark. When the cases did not come down, the government imposed a lockdown from May 10, allowing sale of essential goods from 6 AM to 10 AM.

It eased restrictions on June 11, allowing shops selling essential commodities from 6 AM to 2 PM after the number of cases started declining.

Karnataka on Saturday recorded 5,815 fresh coronavirus cases and 161 deaths, taking the infection count to 28,01,936 and toll to 33,763, the health department said.

The state has 1,30,872 active cases whereas the total discharges stood at 26,37,279 with the recovery of 11,832 people.

Bengaluru Urban district reported 1,263 fresh infections and 23 fatalities today. The city has so far recorded 12,04,326 infections and 15,433 deaths.

There were 72,263 active cases. The positivity rate for the day was 3.38 per cent and Case Fatality Rate was 2.76 per cent.