Police in Karnataka's Dakshina Kannada district are blocking roads at the entry points from neighbouring Kerala's Kasargod district to prevent unchecked ingress, an official said on Friday. A police official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told IANS that over the last three days, they deployed earthmovers to dig up roads within the jurisdiction of Karnataka to prevent smooth flow of traffic from Kerala. "It is humanly impossible to keep a check on each and every individual who crosses the border. Therefore, we came up with this idea to prevent the smooth flow of traffic from Kerala for the time being, as COVID-19 cases in Dakshina Kannada are on the rise," he said. Meanwhile, opposing the move, even local residents staged a sit-in at the Talapady check post in Kasaragod around three days ago alleging that Karnataka police’s move was affecting the movement of vehicles entering Kerala from Karnataka. The protestors demanded smooth commuting to Karnataka, without a mandatory RT-PCR certificate.
During the protest, as soon as a person, in heat of argument, crossed the check post, the police took him into custody. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan too, said that the fresh curbs were against the directive of the Union government in this regard. As per the order issued by the Union Home Ministry, states should not impose travel curbs closing their borders, he said. "The Karnataka government has imposed the new restrictions against the Union government's directive," he told the state Assembly. Replying to a submission by legislator AKM Ashraf of the IUML, he said that steps have been taken to ensure that the curbs are not causing any difficulty to the people of the state who are travelling to the neighbouring state for various purposes. Kerala DGP Anil Kant had already contacted his counterpart in Karnataka who ensured that necessary action would be taken in this regard, the CM added.
Meanwhile, according to a health bulletin released by the Dakshina Kannada district authorities on Wednesday, 350 positive cases were reported on Wednesday and the positivity rate stood at 4.07%. A health officer from Mangaluru told IANS that the number of cases in Dakshina Kannada are far higher compared to Bengaluru, which has a larger population. "We have to take stringent steps like redirecting the traffic to 12 checkposts in Karnataka where checking can be carried out properly. Therefore, at some points they (authorities) may have dug up roads," he said.
(PTI and IANS inputs)