Tamil Nadu state government issued a fresh set of guidelines on Friday, May 14, 2021, to restrict the COVID-19 spread within the state. According to the newly imposed restrictions, e-pass registration has been made mandatory for inter-district passengers as well from today, May 17, 2021. Previously, this registration was applicable to inter-state and international passengers. However, due to rising coronavirus infections in the state, the rule has now been revised to include inter-district travellers. According to the government order issued on Friday, e-pass registration was scheduled to begin today, 6:00 am.
To register for the e-pass, individuals have to visit the official website eregister.tnega.org and select one of the two options – International passenger or Interstate/intrastate passenger. After selecting the appropriate option, they have to enter the mobile number and the security number displayed on the screen. Thereafter, they must enter the OTP received on their mobile number and click on the “Login” option.
After logging in, applicants have to choose between three options – 1. Individual or group travel via road, 2. Individual or group entering Tamil Nadu via flight and, 3. Commercial establishments, organisation, services, industries, businesses, financial companies, and traders. After selecting the appropriate option, applicants have to provide certain important details regarding their travel. These include basic information, reasons for travel and documents of proof. Once all these formalities are completed, an e-pass shall be issued.
Apart from travel restrictions, people within the state of Tamil Nadu shall be allowed to commute only for essential activities like medical emergencies, funerals, marriages, etc. However, they will have to fill certain forms which are available on the state government’s website eregister.tnega.org. Other than essential activities, the government has advised people to not venture out for unnecessary reasons and follow all precautions pertaining to COVID-19. All these steps are being taken to break the infection chain.
The state government has also imposed certain restrictions on shops, markets and e-commerce businesses. Vegetable, grocery, meat and other similar shops were previously permitted to operate till 12:00 pm. But, according to new guidelines, they shall be allowed to open from 6:00 am to 10:00 am. Furthermore, only 50 per cent occupancy shall be permitted in these shops.
Pavement shops selling items like fruits, flowers, vegetables, were previously, allowed to function till 12:00 pm. However, these shops shall not be allowed to function until further notice. At the same time, tea shops shall also not be allowed to function. Furthermore, e-commerce services are permitted to function from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm. However, essential services like petrol pumps, pharmacy, ATM and other medical shops shall be allowed to function as usual.
Complete lockdown on Sundays along with night curfew shall continue to remain in the state of Tamil Nadu. On May 14, 2021, Tamil Nadu reported 31,892 COVID-19 cases. A total of 288 deaths were also recorded in the state taking the death toll to 17,056.
