Non-essential traffic into and out of the Nilgiris has almost completely been stopped from Friday, with vehicles from neighbouring Kerala and Karnataka being turned away at border check-posts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 into the district.
Officials said that all non-essential vehicles, including tourists are being turned away. From Friday, all Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation buses too were stopped from entering the Nilgiris, while TNSTC buses had stopped plying to Kerala and Karnataka from Wednesday onwards.
Ban on poultry items
Vegetable loads and supplies from neighbouring States were still being allowed into the district through the check-posts, though the ban on poultry items was still in force due to reported cases of bird flu in Kerala and Karnataka. Due to the closure of the check-posts, many students as well as tourists trying to leave the Nilgiris were affected, with their journeys being delayed before police stepped in and allowed them to leave the district.
A few vehicles from neighbouring states were also being allowed inside as the parents of students studying in residential schools in the Nilgiris were travelling to the district to pick up their children.
The district administration was also in talks with neighbouring districts of Wayanad, Malappuram and Chamarajanagar to stop all traffic into the Nilgiris on Sunday during the ‘Janata curfew’.
The Nilgiris District Collector, J. Innocent Divya, also said that Pandalur taluk has a very high number of residents who travel to Kerala for daily wage work in the estates there. “Similarly, people from Kerala also travel to Pandalur for daily wage work,” said Ms. Divya, adding that teams have been formed to go door-to-door and check on the health of local residents living in the taluk.
“A health camp is also being conducted in the taluk, to check if anyone in the region is exhibiting symptoms consistent with COVID-19 infection,” said Ms. Divya, adding that health camps will be held regularly starting from Friday to ensure that no new infections go undetected.
“As most of the people who live in Pandalur are daily wage workers, whose livelihood depend on finding work in the neighbouring estates in the Nilgiris and in Kerala, we have not imposed a ban on people travelling for work, but have issued an advisory to avoid travelling to Kerala as much as possible,” said the Collector.
