No roads lead to Kerala from Coimbatore

As the viral spread is intensive in Kerala, Coimbatore District Collector K Rajamani announced on Friday that the inter-state vehicle transport would be stopped as a precautionary measure.

“Nine check-posts on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border at Walayar, Mulli, Melpaaviyur, Velandapalayam, Veerappagoundanur, Gopalapuram, Meenakshipuram, Vazhukuparai and Anaikatty were being shut down from Friday evening. With this, all vehicles entering Kerala from Coimbatore and those coming into the district will be stopped,” said Rajamani.

Though Coimbatore district has not reported any case of corona infection, the administration has been taking all-out efforts on a war-footing to prevent its spread. So far, all vehicles, including omni and government buses, tourist vehicles, load vehicles were disinfected in these check-posts by teams from the Health Department.

Joint teams comprising staff from the Revenue, Police and the Transport Departments would implement the order in an integrated manner to ensure that all vehicle transport between Coimbatore and Kerala are stopped, theCollector said.

However, the complete shutdown of road transport has raised concerns as large consignments of vegetables and poultry products are sent to Kerala from Tamil Nadu on a daily basis.

In a similar measure, Nilgiris District Collector Innocent Divya said that the three district collectors of Kerala and Karnataka sharing borders with The Nilgiris have been asked to restrict freight vehicles for a day on Sunday.

“The collectors of Samraj Nagar in Karnataka, Wayanad and Malappuram in Kerala have been requested to restrict vehicles into The Nilgiris on Sunday from 7 am to 9 pm following a call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stay indoors. They were asked to create awareness among the public,”she said.

Already, the tourist vehicles and government buses from Kerala and Karnataka were turned away at the check-posts in The Nilgiris. Divya also said that medical camps would be organised in villages located near Kerala border as people here are used to work in tea-estates in the neighbouring state.

“The anganwadi workers will make a door-to-door visit in these border villages to create awareness on covid-19,” she said.

Meanwhile, a lab to test persons with corona symptoms has come up in the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH). It was opened by the District CollectorK Rajamani.