bengaluru with a limited number of buses plying across the state due to the indefinite strike by public transport staff social distancing has gone for a tosswhile the transport department has allowed private buses maxicabs and others to operate even without permits many passengers complain hardly any checks are done unlike conductors of state transport undertakings stus private bus staff dont enforce the mandatory mask rule and are not bothered about maintaining social distancing in buses they addalso there is no clarity on passenger interface areas like side handles seats and windows of buses being sanitised after every tripprivate buses are crowded social distancing doesnt work inside these buses its disappointing to see the state leadership choosing to be ignorant pay the ksrtcbmtc workers now consider following the 50 occupancy rule tweeted milana neelatransport department officials said they are helpless we are in a catch22 situation if we take action against private operators they wont run buses it will inconvenience the public so we can only advise them for now said an official he said no cases have been booked against private operators for carrying excess passengers or charging extrawhile the transport department is conducting inspections only at major bus stations like majestic private operators are picking up passengers from places like kr puram however they say they are not getting any profit from city services we are not in a position to operate empty buses like bmtc for city services we are running buses only because the transport department asked us to intercity services are profitable we cannot operate with 50 capacity since it wont be enough for fuel expenses said a private bus operator on majesticyelahanka route many passengers fear the strike may lead to increase in covid19 cases its been nearly 10 days since the transport strike started but most private operators are not following socialdistancing norms they say theyll be under loss if they dont carry excess passengers the government should take steps to end the strike otherwise the number of covid cases will rise said anita s a passenger at majesticsources say the situation on the citys outskirts is worse since buses are often packed with passengers commuting to work many travellers in the city complain about having to wait for long at bus stops due to poor frequency of services bmtcs frequency was better but now private operators are running one bus in half an hour we have no option but to travel in these overcrowded buses said vinod k a resident of jeevan bima nagarhealth experts say passengers travelling in crowded public transport systems can easily contract the virus karnatakas covid19 technical advisory committee tac had stated public transport vehicles should not exceed prescribed capacity and ensure everyone wears masks