COIMBATORE: Close to 200 Kerala natives who were on their way back home with a hundred others from Tamil Nadu were stranded at Walayar interstate border as the Kerala government denied them permission to enter the State since they did not hold valid passes, on Saturday.
According to sources, as many as 300 people who received ePass from the Tamil Nadu government thronged the checkpost. However, 192 of them had not received passes from the Kerala government while the others did.
Those who did not obtain passes to enter the neighbouring State have been provisioned to stay temporarily at a private institution at Kaliyapuram, near Walayar. Officials from Palakkad district instructed them to submit an application through Kerala government’s dedicated online portal before entering the State.
Ishwarya (25), an IT professional, said, “I am a native of Kozhikode. Since I was struggling to make ends meet at Chennai, I decided to go to my hometown. I came here but was told that I need to get permission from the Kerala government as well.”
Speaking to The New Indian Express, District Revenue Officer T Ramadurai Murugan said, “Most of them reached Walayar on Saturday with passes issued by the State. However, using that, they would not be able to travel to another State. We have asked them to apply for permission from Kerala as well.”