Egg racks in city shops lay empty on Tuesday also after consignments failed to roll in from Tamil Nadu despite the partial lifting of the ban on chicken and egg imports.
Traders attributed the delay to the lateness of the hour on Monday at which the government decision came and the paperwork involved in getting the necessary certificates from Tamil Nadu officials.
Only by late Tuesday evening, a few trucks reportedly entered Thiruvananthapuram from Tamil Nadu.
For four days now, many of the wholesale egg shops in markets including Chalai have been remaining closed following the ban clamped in the wake of the bird flu scare in Hessarghatta, Karnataka. Reviewing the situation on Monday evening, the Animal Husbandry Department decided to conditionally allow consignments from Tamil Nadu following strident demands from the trading fraternity and hoteliers. The ban was lifted at 12 noon, Tuesday.
The conditions set down by the government require loads coming in from Tamil Nadu to be accompanied by papers certifying that the products have indeed originated in that state. This certificate has to be signed by the veterinary officer of the district concerned in Tamil Nadu.
‘’As far as we know, not a single load has crossed the check-post into Thiruvananthapuram district today. One reason is the delay in getting the necessary certification. We expect the first loads to come in by Tuesday night and Wednesday,’’ a trader in Chalai said.
According to traders, around 70-100 truckloads of eggs reach Thiruvananthapuram alone a week.