Tamil Nadu CM urged to do away with scheduled total lockdown on Onam eve

MADURAI: A consumer body has requested Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami to do away with the scheduled total lockdown on August 30 (Sunday), on the eve of Onam. The forum said the total lockdown would cause hardships to people celebrating Onam the next day.
The Empower Centre for Consumer and environmental Education, Research and Advocacy has noted that Onam is widely celebrated by people from neighbouring Kerala who are settled in different parts of Tamil Nadu. The total lockdown on the eve of Onam would make it difficult for them to purchase the required items and do preparations, it said.
Executive director of the forum A Shankar also appealed to the chief minister not to extend the lockdown any further and to do away with the e-pass system. “These are badly affecting people from different walks of life, especially those from the economically weaker sections,” he said.
Shankar said Delhi, where the Covid-19 spread was worse than Tamil Nadu, had relaxed the lockdown a month ago. Karnataka and Puducherry had also lifted the lockdown restrictions, he said.
He made an appeal to the state government to operate buses and trains in a controlled manner from September 1.