Interstate commuters from Kerala protest on the Karnataka border following the COVID-19 spike

MANGALURU: After people from the neighboring state were prohibited from entering Dakshina Kannada district on Monday, commuters from Kerala protested at the interstate border at Talapady.The district administration of Dakshina Kannada had strengthened the border surveillance following the rise in Covid-19 cases in Kerala.
Accordingly, only those with Covid-19 negative reports were allowed to enter Dakshina Kannada from Monday. Meanwhile, students from Kerala studying in various colleges coming under Mangalore University jurisdiction who had their UG exams were allowed to enter the district by showing their hall tickets. Others, who did not have RT-PCR negative reports, were sent back from the border. Following this, a group of people from Kerala staged a protest at Talapady and demanded that people should be allowed to enter Karnataka based on their vaccination status.

Following the state government’s direction, Dakshina Kannada district had strengthened the surveillance at the border. Deputy commissioner Dr K V Rajendra K V and manglauru city police commissioner N Shashi Kumar visited the border in Talapady on Monday to enforce government directions effectively. Dakshina Kannada health department was collecting swabs for RT-PCR/RAT on interstate commuters at Talapady.

However, that arrangement was also terminated on Monday. People from Kerala protested the move, which created tension at the border. They demanded that those who have received two doses of vaccines too should be allowed to enter Dakshina Kannada. Dakshina Kannada administration has suspended bus services between Dakshina Kannada and Kasaragod in Kerala from August 1 to 7. Dakshina Kannada has been witnessing spike Covid-19 cases in the past few days. On Sunday, the district had recorded the most daily cases in Karnataka.