Lockdown in Tamil Nadu hits flow of weekend tourists to Puducherry

The weekly lockdown clamped by the Tamil Nadu government on Sundays has hit the flow of tourists coming into Puducherry.

Several tourist centres in the Union Territory that would normally be buzzing with activities on Saturdays and Sundays presented a forlorn look.

The municipal bus terminal here also presented a deserted look as the arrival of buses from districts in the neighbouring state was totally absent.

Normally, private vehicles from states like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka would be zooming around in the former French colony on the weekends.

An auto-rickshaw driver said the flow of tourists to Puducherry was absent Saturday and Sunday which has led to almost zero demand for rickshaw services.

Tourist centres, including establishments run by the Puducherry government, had very less inflow of people.

Puducherry has not adopted total lockdowns but has put in stringent curbs. Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan had told newspersons earlier in the day that if a lockdown was announced in Puducherry on the lines of several states then the livelihood sources of many people would suffer a setback.

She said the territorial government was adopting measures with several 'reasonable relaxations.'

Congress leader and former Puducherry chief minister V Narayanasamy had said on Saturday that the UT government was being 'unbearably lax in implementing curbs' and has been 'contributing to the rise in the number of fresh cases of COVID-19'.

Narayanasamy, who has himself tested positive for the infection and has been in home isolation over the last few days, wanted the government to tighten curbs even further.