Bengaluru restrictions eased a lot, free buses for migrant workers till Thursday

BENGALURU: Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has announced free bus service for migrant workers up to Thursday, by extending it by two more days as Bengaluru began swinging back to life with several lockdown restrictions eased.
As metro rail project construction activities show signs of slowly picking up, migrant workers have begun leaving the city, raising concerns in the government. On Sunday, about 30,000 people travelled to their places. On Monday, the government pressed about 550 buses from Bengaluru and 400 buses from other places into service.

On Sunday, two trains left Bengaluru for Patna in Bihar and one each for Ranchi in Jharkhand and Bhubaneshwar in Odisha. These four trains have transported 4,800 passengers to these states. On Monday, two trains will set off for Jaipur in Rajasthan and Patna in Bihar. Free food and drinking water has been provided to all the passengers, the chief minister said in a press statement.

Public transport — metro, BMTC buses, auto rickshaws and cabs — will not ply. Malls and cinema theatres are still off for some more time. Hotel and hospitality industry is yet to see the sunrise.

Long queues of people were seen in front of liquor shops that have been permitted to open . Restaurants and Bengaluru’s teeming darshinis can sell only ‘take-away’ food. The government has allowed standalone shops to open across the state.

Chief Secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar issued two separate orders on Sunday clarifying on a few crucial aspects for law enforcement personnel. According to one order, only Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural and Mysuru districts will be in the Red zone, and the rest of Karnataka will fall either in the Orange or Green zones. That will open up a bulk of activities in these districts including trade in non-essential items and transport services. No activity, however, is allowed in the containment zones notified by district authorities across the state including Bengaluru.

The government has eased restrictions for seamless inter-district movements in the cluster of Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Ramanagara, Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts, treating them as one unit. However, only those engaged in permitted activities and with valid letters from their organisations and with ID cards are allowed to travel between 7 am and 7 pm. While no separate passes are needed for movement for permitted in these districts, people in the rest of Karnataka would need passes for inter-district movement to undertake permitted activities.

The Police will issue passes for IT/BT professionals required to travel between 7 pm and 7 am in and around Bengaluru including the immediate neighbouring districts.