Curbs on movement hit smooth flow of tea consignments from Kerala

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The tea industry in the State has largely avoided big disruptions in garden and factory operations with strict COVID-19 protocol in place, but restrictions on the movement of personnel have tended to unsettle the smooth flow of consignments. Appu Kurien, chairman of the Tea Trade Association of Cochin, said though the tea industry was exempted from the purview of the lockdown, there were instances in which workers manning sales and auctions were prevented from reaching their workplaces. It was apparently due to the lack of ground-level communication, he said, adding that tea auctions had not faced any disruption so far. Tea auction, earlier slated for Tuesday, was postponed to Wednesday as the tea business sought permission from the district authorities. Subsequently, auctions were held on Wednesday and Thursday. He said there was a serious problem with the functioning of banks being scheduled for Monday, Wednesday and Friday as part of the lockdown protocol, whereas businesses and shops opened on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. When the shops were open, the banks were closed, he said.