“I had to take my mother to a hospital for a non-COVID related check up, but I struggled to avail e-pass due to the website crashing on June 7 morning, I had to cancel the plan. Although the site was restored by evening, the government should have anticipated the traffic and made prior arrangements, “said Geetha, a resident of Alandur in Chennai.

With few relaxations in place, the Tamil Nadu government announced on June 5 that the COVID-19 lockdown is being extended till June 14. And for those traveling both intra and inter-districts, e-registration was made compulsory by the government. However, on Monday morning as thousands of registrations reached the https://eregister.tnega.org website, the portal crashed within hours.

Speaking to TNM, an official with Tamil Nadu e-Governance agency said, “We only anticipated four times more traffic than the last time e-registration was put in place by the government. However, we received 10 times more registrations, almost over 60 lakh. The portal was restored at 4 pm on Monday morning.”

Meanwhile as per the lockdown regulations, it is mandatory for commuters traveling in cars, bikes and auto rickshaws within the district to procure e-registration. And the travel will be allowed only in case of death in the family, post death rituals and medical emergencies.

Further, people who are employed as plumbers, carpenters, electricians, technicians are allowed to travel but with e-registration.

Durai, a jackfruit farmer in Panruti said, “It is good that the government has allowed people to travel. Although procuring e-pass can be difficult sometimes as most of us are not tech savvy, we can still get help and carry on with our business.”

Durai, who is planning to visit Koyambedu market and sell his produce wholesale, is cheerful that he might be able to earn some cash despite the pandemic.

“I went to Koyambedu market last year to sell my produce, but I contracted Coronavirus. Now as I am vaccinated, I can travel and carry on business. With regards to rural districts, the government should educate us about applying e-registration,”added Durai.