Baglung, Oct. 4 : The public vehicles here have been found flouting measures for health and safety despite growing spread of coronavirus across the country.

A monitoring team comprising the Transport Management Office, District Administration Office and District Police Office said both the driver and passengers were reckless on adopting adequate safety measures while travelling.    

The team conducted monitoring of the vehicles at Maldhunga, the border of Maglung and Parbat on Saturday, and at Ratmata along Mid-Hill Highway and revealed this fact. Among 155 vehicles checked by the team, 23 percent vehicles were carrying more passengers than the assigned by the government. It obviously resulted in lack of social distancing.    

Similarly, some passengers, drivers and their help were found not wearing masks. Almost all drivers and their help did not use visor and gloves, said chief of Transport Management Office, Parsing Thapa. He added that 15.67 percent vehicles did not have sanitizers either.    

"In both public and private vehicles, the health and safety measures are not followed fully," Thapa said, adding that the drivers and passengers were instructed to adopt safety measures. Moreover, some drivers were found overcharging passengers.    

The office mentioned that the vehicles carrying more than 50 percent passenger, those without legitimate documents and fleecing passengers would be taken action. The owners of the vehicles not paying tax are asked to appear in the office.    

The monitoring team also distributed masks and awareness materials on health and safety in view of the growing cases of coronavirus.    

The inspection was conducted based on seven indictors set in the Public Transport Operation Guideline-2077 formulated in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.