As Covid-19 numbers drop in Chennai, people begin to return

CHENNAI: There is a reverse exodus, from the rest of Tamil Nadu and other states into the city, where the number of active cases is coming down, going by the number of e-pass applications flooding Greater Chennai Corporation. Until August 2, the civic body got 5.8 lakh e-pass applications including 2.9 lakh in July. About 1.9 lakh applications were accepted.

Chengalpet recorded the most e-pass applications accepted (7,074) followed by Tiruvallur (5,590).In fact, about 2,500 e-pass applications are filed daily in Chengalpet, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts. While Chengalpet gets 2,000 applications daily, Tiruvallur gets 300 and Kancheepuram 40.
As many as 5,521 people from Cuddalore have applied to return to Chennai, 5,251 from Madurai, 5,085 from Trichy, 4,532 from Coimbatore and 4,148 from Thanjavur. Sathish Ramasamy, who worked in a Chennai media firm, decided to permanently shift to Erode. “But now as business is getting back to normal, we will return when work from home ends,” he said.
About 1 lakh applications were accepted from other districts, 13,092 from other states, including 4,305 and 3,393 from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, and 60,806 from air passengers.
Opening of businesses and trade is also contributing to the reverse exodus, say industry experts. Lionel Charles, founder and CEO of India Filings, said, people had realized the pandemic won’t go away soon and want to return. “We have about 500 employees of which 400 are from other districts. Now, they are willing to come back and keep asking us if they can get back to office. Many of the clients are also coming to meet us.”
Manickam Mahalingam, chairman of ABT Group and Sakthi Group, said, people had become confident about Chennai now. “Even guest workers want to come back. But it will take one or two months for normalcy to set in.”
Kumaravel Pandian, corporation deputy commissioner (works), said incoming passes were accepted only in an emergency. “Yes, there is a sudden rise in incoming applications. Those rejected also include multiple applications filed by the same person despite rejection.”
(With inputs from Yogesh Kabirdoss)