Hotels begin service metro buses start operations and gyms open in 17 districts of Karnataka

    (Eds: Fixing typos in fourth para)
    Bengaluru, Jun 21 (PTI) Hotels have begun services,
gyms have reopened and public transport buses and Metro have
resumed operations with riders on Monday as the state
government's guidelines further relaxing Covid-19 curbs in 17
districts of Karnataka, including Bengaluru city have come
into effect.
    The new guidelines popularly called "unlock 2" have
come into effect from 6 AM and will be in force up to 5 AM on
July 5.
    In the 17 districts, where the Covid-19 positivity
rate is below 5 per cent shops will be open from 6 AM to 5 PM
beginning Monday and public transport including bus and metro
began operations with 50 per cent capacity.
    Though bus operations have come as a relief to office
goers and others who depend on them for commuting, they plying
in lesser numbers and with 50 per cent capacity is causing
chaos at bus stands in several places of the city, with higher
number of people wanting to avail its service.
    Similar reports are received from other places.
    While the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporations
(KSRTC) has said it is deploying 3,000 bues initially for
local and inter-district long route bus operations, the
Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) had said
it will ply 2,000 buses.
    According to BMTC officials, till 8 AM a total of 796
buses are being operated.
    Hotels, clubs and restaurants without air conditioning
opened for service until 5 PM with 50 per cent seating, but
liquor will not be permitted.
    Also, gyms began functioning at half capacity and
parks will be open from 5 AM to 6 PM for walking and jogging.
    Functioning of lodges and resorts with bookings up to
50 per cent, outdoor sports activities without spectators,
outdoor film shooting are among the other things that are
permitted from Monday.
    However, there will be a curfew in place between 7 PM
and 5 AM on weekdays and during weekends curfew will be in
place from 7 PM on Friday to 5 AM on Monday throughout the
state.
    Among those that continue to remain shut are swimming
pools, places of worship, political events, educational
institutions, shopping malls, pubs and amusement parks.
    Steady increase has been seen in traffic movement in
the city, with all government and private offices being
permitted to function with 50 per cent of their staff strength
and offices dealing with essential and emergency services are
permitted to function as per their requirement.
    These relaxations are applicable in Bengaluru Urban,
Uttara Kannada, Belagavi, Mandya, Koppala, Chikkaballapur,
Tumakuru, Kolar, Gadag, Dharwad, Raichur, Bagalkot ,
Kalaburagi, Haveri, Ramanagara, Yadgir and Bidar.
    In rest of the districts that have a positivity rate
of more than 5 per cent, the existing relaxation which was in
place from June 11, will apply, allowing essential shops to
be open from 6 AM to 2 PM, and movement of people till 7 PM.
    Mysuru, where the positivity rate is high, will remain
under a strict lockdown until July 5.PTI KSU SS
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)