Days after it started applying anti-microbial coatings on its buses, the MSRTC plans to check the effectiveness of the chemical. It will now collect samples from “common touch areas” on its vehicles. The coating is supposed to reduce the spread of germs, including Covid strains. The undertaking has a fleet of about 18,000 buses and has decided to get the chemical coat applied on 10,000 of them. Under its efficacy testing move, perhaps a first for a public transporter in the country, the lab will collect 9,000 swabs in a year, said officials.

“We intend to check the effectiveness of the anti-microbial coating. Hence, we are appointing a laboratory that will collect and test swabs from buses with anti-microbial coating to verify the presence of traces of H1N1 or SARS or influenza viruses from the Corona family,” said a senior MSRTC official. With the coating,  MSRTC is trying to make its bus surfaces free of microbes. If successful, it plans to run buses with 100 per cent capacity.