As the number of positive cases recorded a spurt in the district, the large number of people daily coming from neighbouring Tamil Nadu is causing concern to the authorities.
It is estimated that an average of 800 persons daily arrive through the Kumily check-post to the plantations in Peerumade taluk alone.
For the past three days, the number of persons coming to plantations has doubled, said a local political activist.
After the lockdown was relaxed, only a temporary pass issued from Tamil Nadu was the requirement for crossing the inter-State border. Traditionally, the people of Tamil origin living in the estate lanes form the major chunk of the labour force in the plantations. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds of daily workers from Tamil Nadu passed through the check-post to the cardamom plantations. This was in addition to the labourers living in the tea plantations of Peerumade.
A police official said an average of 800 persons daily cross the check-post. Keralites returning from other districts through the check-post was limited, he said.
The estate workers live in the community quarters known as ‘layams’ with each family having a kitchen, single room and a front area. All the families living in layams use common bathroom, drinking water and other facilities provided by the estate management. Physical distancing is rarely possible in such conditions, said a trade union leader.
An official of the Health Department said that those who move to Tamil Nadu from the district required medical certificate against COVID-19. However such a parameter was not possible for workers as they had close relation with their native places in Tamil Nadu.
Not different
With Tamil Nadu recording a spike in COVID-19 cases, the situation of the Theni district where the workers belong to was not different, said the trade union leader. The district administration should devise a plan to check and monitor those crossing the border check-post.
Once the situation goes out of control, the chances of local transmission will be very high, he added.
