Traffic was almost fully restored across the border in Kumily, the main check post connecting Tamil Nadu and all the buses conducted to and fro services across the border on Wednesday.
Kumily sub-inspector Fenny Varghese said that normalcy was restored and traffic was fully restored on Wednesday. Private taxis and service buses, both private and State-run conducted services across the border in addition to a large number of private vehicles and two wheelers, he said. The Kerala State Transport Corporation (KSRTC) which plied a bus on a trial basis on Tuesday with police protection, conducted all most all its services on Wednesday.
It was on Monday that Idukki District Collector E. Devadasan held a meeting with his Theni counterpart at Kumily and the district administrations agreed to resume traffic with Kerala police providing protection to the buses from Tamil Nadu reaching the district and Tamil Nadu police helping to ply Kerala buses in Tamil Nadu.
Reports said that no untoward incident was reported on the two sides and public receptions were give to the buses reaching from Kerala in Cumbom. A large number of commuters travelled the two sides easing the tension across the border connected with the Mullaperiyar issue, which resulted in traffic disruption for 28 days. The police said that the vehicles carrying goods are expected to pass the border in a few days. There was public support on either side of the border as people greeted the arrival of buses with enthusiasm and a large number of travellers also walked across the border to ascend buses parked on the either side of the check post.
Cumbom Mettu police said that traffic was being restored to normal, though KSRTC did not conduct services on the route. A large number of buses from Tamil Nadu, private vehicles and taxis crossed the border, they said and added that there was peace prevailing in the border and it will return to normalcy in a day. However, it may take some more days to restore the traffic of jeeps carrying workers to the cardamom plantations to the full scale. Workers were reaching the plantations in buses and taxis and returned in the afternoon, the police said.
In Bodimettu, buses from the two States conducted to and fro journeys and tourists also arrived in the service buses.
