Dakshina Kannada District: Private Buses Resume Operations
Mangaluru: In the background of the district wide lockdown imposed due to the second wave of the corona, the private bus operation which had halted since the last 2 months resumed operation on Thursday, July 1.
Joining the government buses which began operations two weeks ago, few private buses resumed their services on Thursday. Few buses resumed operations in the morning at various places in the city. While some buses had a handful of passengers travelling in them, some others were occupied with passengers taking up almost all seats inside the vehicle.
Owing to the ongoing roadwork at various places, apart from private bus operations, vehicular traffic had increased during the period of lockdown exemption in the city from the past few days, and even on Thursday, the roads experienced similar conditions. Amid this, private city and service bus transportation fee has been hiked and the fare rise has already been enforced from today, July 1st.
In the wake of the rise in diesel price, the rise in bus fare was an inevitable development, the Dakshina Kannada District Bus Owners Association stated. The minimum bus fare has been raised from Rs. 10 to Rs. 12, it is learned.
It has been decided that with effective lockdown relaxation in the Dakshina Kannada district, shops and buses have been granted permission to operate from 7 am to 5 pm in the district. The official order in this regard is being expected to be issued on Thursday. The district In-charge Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary has spoken about the same on Wednesday.
Approximately 60 buses to begin operation
“There are approximately up to 350 Private city buses in the coverage area of Mangaluru City, out this approximately 60 city buses have resumed operation today (Thursday). Since there is an atmosphere of confusion about the lockdown relaxation duration, the number of passengers is a bit scarce. Since there is the possibility of extending the duration of lockdown relaxation, from tomorrow (Friday), we expect more buses may resume operations and the number of passengers may also increase considerably”.
-Dilraj Alva, President, City Bus Owners Association D. K.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
