<span style="color: #222222;">Inter-district bus services of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) resumed Thursday morning after a gap of almost five months.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The Maharashtra government yesterday permitted the state-owned undertaking to re-start inter-district bus operations, which were stopped in March after the enforcement of lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Earlier, the transport corporation resumed intra-district services from May 22 and also ran special buses to ferry migrants to the state borders.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">It was also operating special services for passengers in the Konkan belt ahead of the Ganesh festival, which will begin on Saturday.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">AIR Correspondent reports, after almost five months, the first inter-district bus from Mumbai Central depot, where the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) headquarters is located, left around 8.30 am for Chiplun in Ratnagiri district with six passengers boarding at the starting point.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The ST made 800 trips by plying 721 buses across the state till 2pm today afternoon. While allowing the inter-district MSRTC bus services to resume, the state government did away with the condition of e-pass, which was earlier compulsory for passengers in view of the lockdown.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The MSRTC said it will be mandatory for passengers to maintain COVID-19 prevention protocols, like wearing masks and adhering to the social distancing guidelines.</span><br />''