Coimbatore: The district administration said that due to COVID related inspections on the border, ration rice smuggling from Coimbatore to Kerala has dropped by 75 percent.
Coimbatore: The district administration said that due to COVID related inspections on the border, ration rice smuggling from Coimbatore to Kerala has dropped by 75 percent.
A lot of ration rice is smuggled to the state of Kerala via Coimbatore. The smuggling continued despite the vehicles being confiscated. As a full lockdown was imposed last March due to fear of coronavirus, the public transport was suspended in April and May. Additional checkpoints were set up in the Corporation and rural areas. Due to this, smuggling was completely halted during these two months.
An official with the district administration said, "Due to the proximity of Coimbatore district to the state of Kerala, ration rice was smuggled not only through the Walayar check post but also through other ones as there was not much surveillance. Ration rice from other districts was smuggled to Kerala via Coimbatore as well. A full curfew was imposed due to the coronavirus infection and the smuggling of ration rice was completely stopped in April and May. Relaxations were announced gradually during the curfew in June. Since then, ration rice smuggling to Kerala via Coimbatore has dropped by 75 percent in the past few months."
He added smuggling rice on two-wheelers has gone down a lot as this detected this immediately and the rice is confiscated. He said that 48,000 kg of ration rice was confiscated last month alone.
A lot of ration rice is smuggled to the state of Kerala via Coimbatore. The smuggling continued despite the vehicles being confiscated. As a full lockdown was imposed last March due to fear of coronavirus, the public transport was suspended in April and May. Additional checkpoints were set up in the Corporation and rural areas. Due to this, smuggling was completely halted during these two months.
An official with the district administration said, "Due to the proximity of Coimbatore district to the state of Kerala, ration rice was smuggled not only through the Walayar check post but also through other ones as there was not much surveillance. Ration rice from other districts was smuggled to Kerala via Coimbatore as well. A full curfew was imposed due to the coronavirus infection and the smuggling of ration rice was completely stopped in April and May. Relaxations were announced gradually during the curfew in June. Since then, ration rice smuggling to Kerala via Coimbatore has dropped by 75 percent in the past few months."
He added smuggling rice on two-wheelers has gone down a lot as this detected this immediately and the rice is confiscated. He said that 48,000 kg of ration rice was confiscated last month alone.