Nedumkandam: Keeping in mind the Sabarimala pilgrim season rush, the Kerala Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) will set up a special check-post at Kambammettu, Idukki, - one of the busiest entry points to Kerala from Tamil Nadu.
As the number of vehicles headed for Sabarimala have gone up, it was decided to reroute pilgrim vehicles from other states through Kambam-Kambammettu Road. The new check-post will attend to this traffic.
A temporary check-post will be functional only during the Sabarimala season. According to Udumbanchola Joint RTO M K Jayesh Kumar, the department had collected Rs1.30 crore during previous two seasons from the special check post alone.
Only police and excise personnel will be posted at the check-post for inspection of vehicles. Taxis have to remit a road tax to the state when they cross the border.
Officials of MVD point out that the state is losing heavily in road tax every year as other entry points are without check-posts. There are suggestions to set up similar special check posts at Bodimettu and Chinnar to collect road tax.
Officials in the department have been asking the government for long to set up a permanent check-post at Kambammettu, but a decision is still pending. Hundreds of taxis from other states avoid the Kumali check-post and cross over through Kambammettu every day, depriving the department of tax money.
The department had intensified checks at border areas under the Udumbanchola office as this evasion was noticed. Travelers depend on the Kambammettu check-post to proceed to tourist hubs like Thekkady, Ramakkalmettu and Munnar. The state sales tax department had quit Kambammettu after the Goods and Services Tax (GST) came into force. Only the police and excise departments now carry out inspections at this border point. However, they do not collect taxes and it needs a check-post manned by the MVD.
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