PMPML Employees Say Buses Are Not Sanitised As Mandated: High Risk of Contracting Covid-19

According to ET Auto, the employees say that buses that are used to ferry emergency and essential services personnel during the Covid-19 pandemic, the lockdown called for, and the ease of restrictions periods are not being sanitised for multiple days in a row. The employees say this significantly increases the chances of transmission.

Employees of the PMPML said that buses that are operational at the Narvir Tanaji Wadi bus depot are not sanitised or cleaned, and that none of the government's mandates are being followed.

Staff have found used PPE kits, garbage on seats and on the stairs, and layers of dirt across the vehicles. They allege that the buses have not been washed for days.

The PMPML Employees' Union said that three Depot Managers were available at the Shivajinagar based bus depot, against 60 buses that are operational. They are concerned that the company's senior management are unable to ensure that vehicles are sanitised and hygienic.

The employees say that the Covid-19 pandemic has reduced every day operations in the city by 90 percent, and that only one of the city's two bus depots are operational.

They said that driving unhygienic and dirty buses are unacceptable during a pandemic, especially when there are three Depot managers on-site, every day.

The Union also said that some employees had tested positive for Covid-19 in the past, but the company has not taken any precautionary measures to sanitise the buses. The employees say that the company does not understand the gravity of the situation.

Mr Sunil Nalawade, the General Secretary at the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Workers' Union said, "Many public transport employees are taking a great risk and doing their duty of ferrying people working under essential services. The transport body needs to take care of its employees."

"However, we have found that the managers are not even bothered about sanitising the buses, which increases the risk of transmission of the virus not just among employees operating the buses, but also the passengers using them," he added.

Thoughts About The Unsanitised Buses Being Used To Ferry Passengers By The PMPML

Unacceptable is an understatement. This pandemic has reduced the number of passengers that use public transport to travel within a city, essentially leaving companies like the PMPML with a limited number of passengers to ferry.

We don't think they realise that. The indifference to society's health and safety is unacceptable. To be this shabby in the middle of a pandemic is a violation. Not cool PMPML, not cool at all.