PALAKKAD: The making of e-pass mandatory for Keralites who wish to enter Tamil Nadu put into difficulty hundreds of passengers on the first day of its implementation at the borders of Palakkad district here on Wednesday.
The spike in Corona cases in Kerala was cited as the reason for the introduction of e-pass at the border point in Walayar and other checkposts in the district.
Many people who arrived in private vehicles and buses who had not registered at the site were told to register by the Tamil Nadu police and officials of the health department and then proceed on their onward journey.
As there are no direct buses of KSRTC or TNSTC from Palakkad to Coimbatore, the passengers used to alight at Walayar and then board another bus to Coimbatore.
These passengers were also told to register. Many workers who travel to cities in Tamil Nadu from here and also college students who travel to Coimbatore daily registered from their mobile phones and then proceeded to their destinations.
Their journey was delayed due to the registration process.Many people were seen trying to register at the Tamil Nadu site ‑ eregister.tnega.org.
While some of them completed the process quickly through their mobile phones, many were unable to do so due to technical glitches. These people were stranded on the border.
However, goods vehicles were not stopped on Wednesday. But officials stated that in the coming days the inspections will be made strict and e-pass would be made mandatory for the crew of goods vehicles also.
It was at 9am on Wednesday that the inspection of vehicles was enforced strictly at Walayar.
The inspections were mainly conducted on two-wheeler riders and car passengers.
Many people who were bound for cities like Bengaluru and had to travel through Tamil Nadu were also stranded for some time as they had to register from their mobile phones before proceeding.The KSRTC conducted three bond services to Coimbatore from Palakkad depot.
As the passengers who were daily commuters and employees had registered earlier we experienced no problem.
But the passengers who had boarded ordinary services of KSRTC to Walayar for their onward journey to Coimbatore were blocked at the border, said T A Ubaid, district transport officer of Palakkad depot.
Similar inspections were also carried out at 13 checkposts in Palakkad district which share border with Tamil Nadu.