Bhubaneswar: Learning a lesson from the recent incident in Bhubaneswar wherein a few Surat returnees de-boarded from a bus and walked around, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) PK Jena asked the Collectors to ensure such incidents never re-occur.
In a letter to the Collectors and municipal commissioners, Jena said as per the present arrangements, the district administrations are requisitioning buses and sending them to the designated railway stations with one nodal officer for transport of people from the railway station to the identified temporary medical camps and quarantine centres.
“In spite of previous instructions, recently some cases were detected where such buses have de-boarded some passengers en-route, putting the administration in great difficulty in tracing them and safely transferring them to their respective destinations,” Jena said in the letter.
The government has asked the Collectors to have an agreement with the bus owners while hiring it for the purpose, clearly directing that the bus will carry the people identified by the nodal officer directly from the designated railway station to the destination.
The bus owners will have to ensure that no passenger will board or de-board en-route.
Strict action will be taken against the driver and any other person in charge of the bus including seizure of the driving licence and bus apart from filing criminal case against them, the government said. The nodal officers of the districts have been given the responsibility to ensure strict implementation of the instructions.