All Roads to Kerala

pms · 9th January 2022, 20:16

Travelled from Kollam, Kerala to Bangalore via Aryankaavu, Shenkottai, Tirumangalam, Salem on 7th Jan, Friday. Had taken TN pass and hard copies of vax certificates. Reached Puliyarai checkpost around 7:30AM where as usual they checked only the TN pass and noted my contact number. No RTPCR or vax certificates were asked. There were no other checks anywhere else. It was a smooth drive to BLR.
I hadn't taken the RTPCR tests.

adutta2k · 9th January 2022, 20:58

Thanks all for the updates.

Did not travel much in 2021 so thought of travelling with family to Kerala (Munnar & Cherai) on 23rd Jan 2022 and as usual Covid is back to play havoc to travel plans. We are a family of 4 adults (double vaccinated) and 1 child (5 yrs). I am a little worried as to what restrictions will be in place considering that the travel date is on a weekend and I have to cross 2 state borders (KA-TN and TN-KL). Would really appreciate if bhp-ians keep posting the latest updates.

Keeping fingers crossed

arun_josie · 9th January 2022, 21:23

Crossed TN-KL border at Poovar, there was no checking during onward and return journey as well.

Gannu_1 · 10th January 2022, 12:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by venkyhere

On behalf of all of us following this thread here, I am taking this moment to express our heartfelt thanks to @rohitoasis , who has been unrelenting and regular with his updates on this thread, regarding the checks/no-checks @walayar border.
Thank you Rohit.

And thank you L&T for giving Rohit a favourable transfer to L&T Coimbatore from Chennai.

No really, sometimes the company isn't that great when it comes to transfers. Like the useless, single carriageway Coimbatore bypass road.

rohitoasis · 11th January 2022, 08:25

Gentlemen, For the Pongal homecoming, i think there is nothing to worry for travelling to Kerala and back.

Towards Kerala no cops. No checks at all. There is constant stream of vehicles and "Kerala SRTC" buses and SETC buses as well. I was able to find few travels buses as well today. Kerala lines and Orange travels as of today morning.

Towards Tamilnadu, Traffic including commercial vehicles diverted towards the service road. But there does not seem to be any indication of checks at the Walayar Border across the last few days. No cops at all at either 7:15 in the morning or 6 in the evening. Only Yesterday evening, there was one cop stationed at the shamiana but he was not stopping anything or anyone. I could not find any news outlets or articles pointing to interstate travel restrictions. My family sees local news and it suggests checking at Walayar border. I am yet to encounter any checking at all.

I am keeping my double vaccination certificate on standby though.

Also adding details about L&T Bypass. They have started adding white lines on the road. So during working hours. Expect partial blockage at certain sections at least. Nothing significant to worry about. Just about 2 car lengths of people working on drawing the lines.

TSIVTEC · 11th January 2022, 08:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by TSIVTEC

Will travel back to Bangalore on Friday and will update on how the return went.

Drove back yesterday and again no checking of any sort anywhere. Started from Pathripala at 7:25, passed Walayar border at 8:30.

Witnessed the morning rush hour on CBE by-pass which took a while to get through. Surprisingly there was a lot of traffic all the way till Salem after which the roads were relatively free.

Reached Attibele border at 14:00 and made it home by 15:25. Not bad considering a 1hr break in between.

Ram78 · 11th January 2022, 17:18

Travelled from Hyderabad to Bangalore on 9th Jan. via Kurnool and Anantapur. No checking anywhere. Roads are good all across except probably a total of 0.5 km. stretch where roads are under construction.

Travelled from Bangalore to Thrissur on 10th Jan.via Salem-Coimbatore. No checking anywhere including Walayar.

At Bangalore faced a lot of problem wrt.traffic as the flyover which ends at the toll just before we take a left to Nice Road from Bangalore main (not sure of the name...the metro passes parallel to the flyover) was closed. And it took nearly an hour for the 500 mtrs. stretch at 9 am. Every few mtrs. there was a jam.

Post that did not face any problem till Coimbatore. At Coimbatore there is a 2-3 km.2 lane road where there was traffic with heavy trucks and buses. The bus drivers are rash. Then all the way till Thrissur was comfortable. Kuthiran tunnel is open and in the night its a nice drive. Both on the opposite side ,before Kuthiran ie. road going to Coimbatore i saw a nearly 0.5 km. of traffic jam at 8 pm.

rohitoasis · 13th January 2022, 08:26

I have been updating till now that entry to Tamilnadu at Walayar has had no checks at any time i cross. Off late in spite of seeing cops at the border in the evening, i found them letting through entire traffic without stopping anyone. I had to find out why and so i started today as late as possible to catch up with cops if they turn up and find out.

I was able to find one cop at the Shamiana today. He was on phone with someone and was anxious to get back to it. So here is bit of what i could find from him in that limited time.

I asked if there is actually any checking while entry. To which he responded checking is limited to 10PM to 5AM when the lockdown is initiated. So these poor guys have to sit out entire days and nights watching vehicles go by and only check at this specified interval.

Then i checked if it is good enough to have a Double vaccination certificate if checks are there and he nodded in affirmative.

In the hurry for him to get back to the call, i missed asking him about the weekend lockdown and if checks will be applicable. I am assuming that would be the case as well.

So worst case if you are travelling during weekends or at these time intervals please be prepared with the double vaccination certificates. That should be good enough to cross over.

I kinda felt bad for the cop seeing him sitting huddled up in the corner of the Shamiana. Here i was kitted in my riding jacket, gloves, balaclava and full face helmet and still i could feel the cold seeping in enough that my body temperature barely reads at the IR thermometer and this guy was sitting with barely any weather protection,

Entry to Kerala remains unchanged. No entry barriers, no cops, no checking.
Festival greetings to all holiday goers.

JohnnyBoss · 13th January 2022, 13:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by anb

I have travelled via Pathanamthitta- Ranny- Plachery- Erumely road yesterday. More than 90% of the roadworks between Pathanamthitta and Plachery is completed. Here is a 9 minutes video of the Pathanamthitta- Plachery stretch.

https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=W4fzQDBOSBg

How is the road condition from Plachery to Erumely?

anb · 13th January 2022, 13:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnnyBoss

How is the road condition from Plachery to Erumely?

Plachery to Erumely is in excellent condition. But there is some traffic due to Sabarimala season. Refer this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcuENsuIqEY

mpksuhas · 14th January 2022, 13:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by rohitoasis

So worst case if you are travelling during weekends .

Thanks for updates.
Apart from Sunday lockdown and night curfew, is there any restrictions? Specially for Saturday.

darklord · 15th January 2022, 17:13

Kuthiran second tunnel construction complete, awaiting state government nod to open to traffic:

https://www.manoramaonline.com/distr...nel-story.html

https://www.mathrubhumi.com/thrissur...2022-1.6360883

Ram78 · 16th January 2022, 21:47

Travelled from Thrissur to Bangalore via Coimbatore-Salem on 15th. No checking anywhere. Butter smooth roads. Traffic lesser than usual.Sone delay at Kuthiran tunnel since traffic was only through one.
Travelled from Bangalore to Hyderabad on 16th.Again no checking anywhere. Smooth roads. Comparitively lesser traffic.A2B was closed. Seems there was some violence..not sure. Other food joints were open.

rohitoasis · 17th January 2022, 08:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Thanks for updates.
Apart from Sunday lockdown and night curfew, is there any restrictions? Specially for Saturday.

Our office had holiday for two days. So i was not able to ascertain if there was any restriction at all on Saturday. I am sorry i could not provide the update. If i do find cops on the border this week. I will try to find out. There was nobody in the border today.

mpksuhas · 17th January 2022, 19:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by rohitoasis

Our office had holiday for two days. So i was not able to ascertain if there was any restriction at all on Saturday.

Thanks, I did the trip on Saturday. There is are no restrictions on Saturday, lockdown is only on Sunday & in night (10PM to 05AM).

Checkpost at Walayar was empty when I travelled too, however the main road is closed and one is diverted through service road for a KM or so.

Will put a detailed update soon.

9th January 2022, 20:16	#13831
pms BHPian Join Date: Oct 2019 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 226 Thanked: 454 Times	Re: All Roads to Kerala Travelled from Kollam, Kerala to Bangalore via Aryankaavu, Shenkottai, Tirumangalam, Salem on 7th Jan, Friday. Had taken TN pass and hard copies of vax certificates. Reached Puliyarai checkpost around 7:30AM where as usual they checked only the TN pass and noted my contact number. No RTPCR or vax certificates were asked. There were no other checks anywhere else. It was a smooth drive to BLR. I hadn't taken the RTPCR tests.
	() Thanks

9th January 2022, 20:58	#13832
adutta2k BHPian Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: bangalore Posts: 68 Thanked: 40 Times	Re: All Roads to Kerala Thanks all for the updates. Did not travel much in 2021 so thought of travelling with family to Kerala (Munnar & Cherai) on 23rd Jan 2022 and as usual Covid is back to play havoc to travel plans. We are a family of 4 adults (double vaccinated) and 1 child (5 yrs). I am a little worried as to what restrictions will be in place considering that the travel date is on a weekend and I have to cross 2 state borders (KA-TN and TN-KL). Would really appreciate if bhp-ians keep posting the latest updates. Keeping fingers crossed
	() Thanks

9th January 2022, 21:23	#13833
arun_josie Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Bangalore Posts: 3,893 Thanked: 14,883 Times	Re: All Roads to Kerala Crossed TN-KL border at Poovar, there was no checking during onward and return journey as well.
	(1) Thanks

11th January 2022, 08:25	#13835
rohitoasis BHPian Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Palakkad Posts: 632 Thanked: 1,478 Times	Re: All Roads to Kerala Gentlemen, For the Pongal homecoming, i think there is nothing to worry for travelling to Kerala and back. Towards Kerala no cops. No checks at all. There is constant stream of vehicles and "Kerala SRTC" buses and SETC buses as well. I was able to find few travels buses as well today. Kerala lines and Orange travels as of today morning. Towards Tamilnadu, Traffic including commercial vehicles diverted towards the service road. But there does not seem to be any indication of checks at the Walayar Border across the last few days. No cops at all at either 7:15 in the morning or 6 in the evening. Only Yesterday evening, there was one cop stationed at the shamiana but he was not stopping anything or anyone. I could not find any news outlets or articles pointing to interstate travel restrictions. My family sees local news and it suggests checking at Walayar border. I am yet to encounter any checking at all. I am keeping my double vaccination certificate on standby though. Also adding details about L&T Bypass. They have started adding white lines on the road. So during working hours. Expect partial blockage at certain sections at least. Nothing significant to worry about. Just about 2 car lengths of people working on drawing the lines. Last edited by rohitoasis : 11th January 2022 at 08:37.
	(4) Thanks

11th January 2022, 17:18	#13837
Ram78 BHPian Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 129 Thanked: 227 Times	Re: All Roads to Kerala Travelled from Hyderabad to Bangalore on 9th Jan. via Kurnool and Anantapur. No checking anywhere. Roads are good all across except probably a total of 0.5 km. stretch where roads are under construction. Travelled from Bangalore to Thrissur on 10th Jan.via Salem-Coimbatore. No checking anywhere including Walayar. At Bangalore faced a lot of problem wrt.traffic as the flyover which ends at the toll just before we take a left to Nice Road from Bangalore main (not sure of the name...the metro passes parallel to the flyover) was closed. And it took nearly an hour for the 500 mtrs. stretch at 9 am. Every few mtrs. there was a jam. Post that did not face any problem till Coimbatore. At Coimbatore there is a 2-3 km.2 lane road where there was traffic with heavy trucks and buses. The bus drivers are rash. Then all the way till Thrissur was comfortable. Kuthiran tunnel is open and in the night its a nice drive. Both on the opposite side ,before Kuthiran ie. road going to Coimbatore i saw a nearly 0.5 km. of traffic jam at 8 pm.
	(3) Thanks

13th January 2022, 08:26	#13838
rohitoasis BHPian Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Palakkad Posts: 632 Thanked: 1,478 Times	Re: All Roads to Kerala I have been updating till now that entry to Tamilnadu at Walayar has had no checks at any time i cross. Off late in spite of seeing cops at the border in the evening, i found them letting through entire traffic without stopping anyone. I had to find out why and so i started today as late as possible to catch up with cops if they turn up and find out. I was able to find one cop at the Shamiana today. He was on phone with someone and was anxious to get back to it. So here is bit of what i could find from him in that limited time. I asked if there is actually any checking while entry. To which he responded checking is limited to 10PM to 5AM when the lockdown is initiated. So these poor guys have to sit out entire days and nights watching vehicles go by and only check at this specified interval. Then i checked if it is good enough to have a Double vaccination certificate if checks are there and he nodded in affirmative. In the hurry for him to get back to the call, i missed asking him about the weekend lockdown and if checks will be applicable. I am assuming that would be the case as well. So worst case if you are travelling during weekends or at these time intervals please be prepared with the double vaccination certificates. That should be good enough to cross over. I kinda felt bad for the cop seeing him sitting huddled up in the corner of the Shamiana. Here i was kitted in my riding jacket, gloves, balaclava and full face helmet and still i could feel the cold seeping in enough that my body temperature barely reads at the IR thermometer and this guy was sitting with barely any weather protection, Entry to Kerala remains unchanged. No entry barriers, no cops, no checking. Festival greetings to all holiday goers. Last edited by rohitoasis : 13th January 2022 at 08:27.
	(8) Thanks

15th January 2022, 17:13	#13842
darklord BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: TVM (KL-16) Posts: 793 Thanked: 3,456 Times View My Garage	Re: All Roads to Kerala Kuthiran second tunnel construction complete, awaiting state government nod to open to traffic: https://www.manoramaonline.com/distr...nel-story.html https://www.mathrubhumi.com/thrissur...2022-1.6360883
	(1) Thanks

16th January 2022, 21:47	#13843
Ram78 BHPian Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 129 Thanked: 227 Times	Re: All Roads to Kerala Travelled from Thrissur to Bangalore via Coimbatore-Salem on 15th. No checking anywhere. Butter smooth roads. Traffic lesser than usual.Sone delay at Kuthiran tunnel since traffic was only through one. Travelled from Bangalore to Hyderabad on 16th.Again no checking anywhere. Smooth roads. Comparitively lesser traffic.A2B was closed. Seems there was some violence..not sure. Other food joints were open.
	() Thanks