The State government on Saturday initiated steps to ensure that inter-State border checks and restrictions on movement of vehicles brought about by the COVID-19 threat did not disrupt the supply of essential goods freighted to Kerala from other regions.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told journalists that the State was well supplied for now. There was no cause for panic buying. However, he said he was concerned that authorities of neighbouring State had stopped cargo lorr- ies bound for Kerala at some border locations. Such steps could precipitate a crisis.
T.N.’s promise
The Tamil Nadu government had assured Kerala that it would facilitate freight movement. Mr. Vijayan called a meeting of traders on Monday to ensure that the pandemic did not upend food and fuel supply chains.
Chief Secretary Tom Jose told The Hindu that his counterpart in Tamil Nadu had assured him that there would be no restriction on the movement of supplies, including perishable goods, to Kerala. He said some elements might try to create an artificial shortage to squeeze profits. The State would act forcefully against such entities, he said.
District Collector, Coimbatore, K. Rajamani said there was no restriction on the movement of freight to Kerala.
He had placed some reasonable limits on the inter-State movement of people and passenger vehicles.
District Collector, Kanyakumari, Prakash M. Wadanare said free movement of essential commodities to Kerala was a priority for his administration. The border checks were limited to citizens and passenger vehicles.
Pottivelu Subramaniam, the owner of one of the oldest trading houses in Kerala, said there could be a shortage of rice, wheat, edible oil, sugar, egg, poultry, pulses and vegetables if inter-State truckers feared to ferry goods to Kerala. The COVID-19-related border checks had detained trucks at inter-State borders for days. Ideally, the government should ensure a “green channel” for goods movement.
A. Paulraj, president of the Grain Merchants Association, said in a petition to Mr. Jose that the Tamil Nadu authorities were detaining lorries returning from Kerala in border localities.
The trucks were returning after unloading grains from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal and Telangana in Kerala.
Transporters across the country have suspended freight movement to Kerala. The government should resolve the issue at the earliest.
Chamber of Commerce and Industries president S.N. Reguchandran Nair said the business community foresaw a steep rise in commodity prices if the State did not restore truck traffic to pre-epidemic levels.
