Normality on Wednesday returned to Tiruchi, Karur, Pudukottai, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts a day after the demise of the Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.
Barring schools and colleges, which were closed for three days, all other routine activity resumed. Shops and business establishments were open. Though there was an apprehension among a section of traders on opening the shops on account of official mourning that would continue till Thursday, some traders opened the shutters as usual. Following this, others also resumed their business.
Similarly, hotels, restaurants, eateries which had downed shutters on Tuesday as a mark of respect to the late leader, resumed their business as usual. Cinema halls resumed the shows from afternoon.
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The Gandhi Market that attracts traders from Tiruchi and nearby areas resumed its activities with the arrival of vegetables from villages. However, the arrival was less than the usual, traders said.
“The market will witness optimum business from Thursday as loads from far away places and neighbouring States will reach Tiruchi on Wednesday night,” a wholesale merchant of tomato said.
Normality returned to the Tiruchi Bus Stand, which wore a deserted look on Monday and Tuesday, with the operation of State owned Transport Corporations and private buses. The long distance buses bound for Chennai, Tiruvananthapuram, Coimbatore and other destinations were operated as usual. Similarly, city buses were on roads. However, the occupancy rate in the long distance buses was said to be less than the normal days.
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Reports from Karur, Ariyalur and Perambalur said that normality had retuned in most of the towns and rural areas. Though the cadres of AIADMK and the people were yet to come out of grief, sorrow and shock over the death of Jayalalithaa, traders and merchants slowly opened their business houses. Most of the textile and mosquito net manufacturing units too resumed their operation as usual on Wednesday.
To stay away from courts
The Tiruchi Bar Association on Wednesday resolved to abstain from attending courts for three days as a mark of respect to the late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. A resolution to that effect was passed unanimously at its special meeting.
V. Srinivasan, president, and J. Mathiazhagan, secretary, were present. Over 700 advocates attended the meeting. Stating that the death of Jayalalithaa was an irreparable loss to the country, particularly Tamil Nadu, the resolution said that the advocates would not attend courts till Friday as a mark of tribute to her. Earlier, they paid floral tribute to the late leader. They also observed two-minute silence.
Thanjavur
The AIADMK cadre and the public displayed enormous resilience in the aftermath of the demise of late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa testified by the sombre mood and absence of any untoward incident from any part of the region on Wednesday. Though most people are in grief, normality slowly returned to the delta districts.
Most of the shops and trading establishments reopened on Wednesday while fuel stations too started dispensing supplies to motorists. The TNSTC resumed operations but on a vastly reduced scale as the movement of passengers and commuters was dull. Holiday for educational institutions was one reason for the lean movement of passengers, sources said.
Meanwhile, people and AIADMK cadre continued to glorify Jayalalithaa, adorning her portraits with flowers in major street corners and in almost all villages in the region. At Koviladi, around 15 cadre tonsured their heads and took bath in the Cauvery. “Amma was all for us and we feel orphaned by her death. So we decided to undertake the rituals, normally done in the event of death of their own mother,” Sundaram, one among the cadre, said. At Sengipatti nine cadre tonsured their heads as a mark of respect to the departed leader.
Thanjavur Kamaraj Market Vegetable and Fruit Vendors Association took out a candle light procession led by association president Dharmaraj. Students and staff of the Thanjavur Medical College, led by Dean Vanithamani, took out a silent rally to pay homage to Jayalalithaa.
In Tiruvarur, some AIADMK cadre led by Tiruvarur Cooperative Housing Society chairman Muthumanikkam tonsured their heads. Moksha Deepam was lit at the Sri Tyagaraja Swamy temple at dusk.
An ardent AIADMK cadre Swaminathan (63) of Siruthalaikadu near Vedaranyam area of Nagapattinam district fainted after hearing the news of Jayalalithaa's death and was rushed to the Government Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.
Another cadre V. Chandra (48) of Vellikidangai near Vanduvanchery in Nagapattinam district died of sudden cardiac arrest while watching the funeral of Jayalalithaa on television on Tuesday. She had reportedly taken out a milk pot procession in Vedaranyam praying for the well being of Jayalalithaa some time back.