Barring an incident of a petrol bomb being hurled at the entrance of the Kulathur police station, a sense of normalcy prevailed in the port town of Thoothukudi on Saturday.
Most shops were open for business, while buses and autos were seen plying the roads. With a fleet of 305 buses from seven depots, including Thoothukudi city, Mofussil, Vilathikulam, Kovilpatti, Srivaikuntam, Tiruchendur and Sathankulam, the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation resumed full-scale operations on Saturday.
Collector Sandeep Nanduri, along with Monitoring officer and Agriculture Secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi, Transport Secretary P.W.C. Davidar and Superintendent of Police Murali Rambha, inspected the vegetable market, the Thoothukudi bus stand and the bazaar area to gauge the situation.
The district administration has stepped up confidence-building measures to ensure that normalcy is restored in the town. A meeting was convened by the Collector with citizens’ organisations, fishermen, traders, mini bus and autorickshaw operators and NGOs with the aim of urging them to return to their daily routine. As much as 168 tonnes of vegetables were purchased by consumers from the uzhavar sandhai , the Kamaraj market and the Amma cooperative store. Moreover, banks were told to ensure that ATM outlets had sufficient cash.
Addressing mediapersons, the Collector said the State government had cut the electricity and water supply to Sterlite Copper. The unit remained closed as of now, and action was being taken to restore internet services. Schools would reopen as per schedule on June 1, he said.
‘No illegal detentions’
Referring to the riot which occurred on May 22, he said 145 rioters had been arrested so far, and that none were being illegally detained.
Banking services had only been marginally affected, as transactions were being carried out with the help of dedicated lines through the intranet service, banking sources said.
The district is home to 267 branches of various banks and has around 80 ATMs. Using the intranet service, 13 ATMs in the town had been made operational. Cash was fed into ATMs on Friday, the sources added.
