Inter-state bus services to resume soon as Karnataka waits for consent from neighbouring states

Bengaluru, June 08: Karnataka transport minister Laxman Savadi on Monday said that they are mulling to resume inter-state transport services within three to four days and has sent letters to the governments of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Goa and some other states to give their consent.

Speaking to media, Laxman Savadi said, ''We are mulling to resume inter-state transport services and have sent letters to the governments of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Goa and some other states in this regard. We will start the services after 3-4 days."

''We have not considered about resuming inter-state transport to Maharashtra so far.'' he further said.

However, since the neighbouring states' governments have not offered any response to Karnataka, the transport minister said that they are not considering to resume inter-state transport to Maharashtra so far.

The bus services will resume after remaining suspended for over two months due to the COVID-19 induced lockdown.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), which had stopped inter-State services on March 22, is hoping to resume services to some of the neighbouring States. It has requested the State government to take up the matter with its counterparts in Goa, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and get the required permission.

The AP State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) planned to resume services to Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru from June 8, but the governments of Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka did not respond to requests for permission for this.

The COVID-19 total in Karnataka rose to 5,452 on Monday with 239 more individuals testing positive. The death toll increased to 61 with two more deaths being registered.