Inter-state vehicular traffic comes to a halt

PALAKKAD: The KSRTC did not conduct services to Coimbatore and Pollachi on Thursday.Similarly, the TNSTC also did not operate any services to Palakkad or other towns in Kerala.“The resumption of services will depend on the outcome of the meeting proposed to be held in the presence of the District Collector, Superintendent of Police, MLA and the representatives of the unions on Friday.No services operated to Coimbatore on Thursday as the unions had served a notice to this effect,” KSRTC District Transport Officer Vijayakumar said.Meanwhile, the price of vegetables has shot up in the market following the disruption in the movement of goods vehicles across the border.While the traffic was disrupted owing to the road blockade by the MDMK on Wednesday, it was less through the Walayar and the Velanthavalam checkposts on Thursday too.Locally cultivated vegetables like bitter gourd, pumpkin, cucumber and tomatoes were available in the market, while cool season vegetables like carrot, cabbage and capsicum were either costly or scarce.Sellers said the arrival of goods vehicles from markets like Coimbatore, Pollachi, Kankayam, Ottanchathiram and Mettupalayam has reduced considerably in the past two days.The number of vehicles arriving through Gopalapuram, Velanthalavalam, Govindapuram and Nadupunni has also come down.There have been isolated incidents of lorries bearing Kerala registrations being deflated in Tamil Nadu.During Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s mass contact programme on December 8, the lorry owners from Tamil Nadu had promised him that there would not be any attacks on Kerala lorries in Tamil Nadu.Since the attacks are being carried out by antisocials elements, the Coimbatore district administration is finding it hard to contain them, said the district secretary of the Lorry Owners Association and the state secretary of the Kerala State Lorry Owners Federation M Nandakumar.