No interstate KSRTC buses till Kasaragod TPR below 3%: DC

MANGALURU:

Dakshina Kannada

district administration doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to resume interstate KSRTC bus services between Mangaluru and

Kasaragod

though the neighbouring district in Kerala has been witnessing fall in daily cases of Covid-19.


DK deputy commissioner Dr KV

Rajendra

said the bus services between Mangaluru and Kasaragod will not resume until the test positivity rate in Kasaragod reduces below 3%. “The TPR is still more than 10%,” Rajendra said, adding that the restrictions will continue.

Meanwhile, interstate daily commuters are hopeful that the Karnataka government will withdraw its border restrictions completely, considering the reduction in the number of fresh cases of Covid-19 in Kasaragod district. The average daily cases in the Kerala district have seen a drastic decline in the past few weeks — from150-200 to around 110. However, the number of daily cases is more compared to DK’s figure of 15. The district did not report more than 50 cases for more than a month after 55 cases were reported on October 5. As per an order issued by the district administration on October 27, border surveillance will continue till November 10.

Interstate daily commuters from Kasaragod have been requesting the bus services be resumed immediately as they are forced to travel in two buses to reach Mangaluru. “Since there are no KSRTC shuttle buses, we have to travel in ordinary ones from Kasaragod to Talapady that halt at more than 50 bus stops. We have to hop on to city buses to reach Mangaluru from Talapady. It takes more than two hours to cover a distance of 50km from Kasaragod to Mangaluru,” said Surendra Nayak, a daily commuter.