Thousands of AP natives living and working in Hyderabad were desperately trying to go back to their hometowns as the lockdown was extended till May 29 in Telangana. However, the e-passes issued by the Telangana police to travel to their home state were not honored by the AP police and people were being sent back from the inter-state border at Garikapadu check post, much to their disappointment.
With no work or income for the last two months and another idle month ahead, private employees and business owners were desperately trying to cross the state border along with families in their cars for all these days, but the AP police were halting them as they had strict instructions from the government.
The state government had been under pressure to provide testing and quarantine facilities for Covid-19 suspects and confirmed cases and the numbers have been fast increasing. Nearly 20,000 people residing in various countries have also been returning to the state in the special flights this week and all of them need to undergo quarantine for 14 days.
Under these circumstances, the government did not allow people to enter the state unless there was a real emergency.
Finally, the government has decided to issue e-passes to 8,000 people from Hyderabad and 5,000 from the surrounding areas for entry into AP. Only those who applied on spandana.ap.gov.in will be issued e-passes and they will be transported in APSRTC buses.
No private vehicles will be allowed and all the people, including adults and children, should undergo quarantine for 14 days at the bus stations of their respective destinations. The government has issued instructions to all the regional managers of RTC to make quarantine arrangements.
The charges for travel in AC and non-AC buses will be of Garuda and super luxury charges respectively. The buses will start from Miyapur-Bolarum cross roads, Kukatpally Housing Board and LB Nagar and won’t stop anywhere in between. Those who got e-passes have to book their tickets online in advance. There won’t be offline booking, according to government sources.
The online booking will open in a couple of days once it is officially announced, a source said. In the second phase, 2,700 people from Bengaluru and 1,700 from Chennai who already applied for e-passes on Spandana portal will be brought back, the official said.
The buses are only intended for transporting the people coming into the state and won’t carry passengers while going back.
