Bus service to Ooty, Yercaud restricted to prevent spread of coronavirus

But, such gradual easing of travel restrictions also led to an inflow of tourists for ‘holidaying’ raising fears of COVID-19 spread in the hill region. Therefore, bus services to these tourist locales have been kept bare minimum to prevent the inflow of tourists.

“The TNSTC buses from Ooty, which were operated till Coimbatore, were all stopped at Mettupalayam over the last three days to restrict arrival of tourists as suggested by the district administration. This decision was taken after few people, who flew down to Coimbatore by flight, had gone to Ooty for holidaying ignoring the risks,” said a TNSTC official.

Yet, people did not care and reached Mettupalayam by other mode of transports to take a bus to Ooty. “The crowd was huge particularly during this weekend forcing the transport corporation to operate frequent trips from Mettupalayam. Indeed, it now makes no point in suspending the services partially as people continue to come,” added the official.

In Yercaud too, the number of buses proposed to operate initially has been cancelled following a request from Town Panchayat officials. On the first day, when the public transport services resumed, it was proposed to ply about seven buses to Yercaud from Salem.

However, anticipating an inflow of tourists to Yercaud due to frequent bus services, the Yercaud Town Panchayat president Siva Sakthi made an appeal to concerned officials to keep the number of bus service to minimal.

Currently, only two services one in morning and another in evening has been operated to Yercaud. “All passengers are verified with their Aadhar card to ensure that only people from villages in the hill station board the buses. We also keep a regular tab on hotels and resorts to know if any tourists are staying,” said Siva Sakthi, president of Yercaud Town Panchayat.

The Nilgiris administration too has formed special teams to check if home stays, resorts and lodges comply with lockdown norms. “If they were found to operate illegally, they will be sealed and strict action taken,” said Collector J Innocent Divya.