The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (Karnataka RTC) on Sunday announced that it will restart bus services to and from Tamil Nadu starting from Monday, August 23. “Around 250  buses will be operated to different destinations mainly Hosur, Vellore, Thiruvannamalai, Villupuram, Thirukoilur, Coimbatore, Thirunallar, Trichy, Madurai, Kumbakonam, Kanchipuram, Chennai, Ooty and other towns will be operated from tomorrow (August 23) and gradually expanded to other routes as well,” a Karnataka RTC official said.

It may be recalled that at the peak of the second wave of surging infections, bus services to and from the neighbouring state were stopped on April 27. Interstate bus travels by the state government enterprises have been stopped from time to time since the onset of the pandemic as a measure to keep infection levels at a manageable state. Earlier in July, the Karnataka RTC had announced resumption of bus services to and from Kerala, another neighbouring state. 

Currently bus services are running  from Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mangaluru, Puttur and other places in Karnataka to Kerala. Due to the ongoing surge in cases there, passengers on both ways are required to carry a negative COVID-19 negative test certificate not older than 72 hours. The rule applies to even fully vaccinated individuals. For daily travellers in border districts for students and businessmen in the border districts, passengers are required to undergo a RT-PCR test every 15 days. By a Kerala High Court ruling, emergency travel is allowed between the two states.

Earlier in June-end, the Karnataka RTC had resumed bus operations from Bengaluru, Shivamogga, Mangaluru and other places in the state to Mumbai, Pune, Miraj, Solapur, Pandharpur and Tuljapur in Maharashtra. There is a requirement for incoming travellers from Maharashtra to carry a negative RT-PCR test report not older than 72 hours. Similarly, on June 22, it resumed operations to multiple towns and cities in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.