Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday requested the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over travel restrictions imposed by Karnataka on passengers arriving from his state due to surge in COVID-19 cases.
In the letter to the Prime Minister, Vijayan said that people from his state were being put to undue hardship at the border due to the restriction. He also pointed out that the restriction was against the Centre's directions.
"Many persons mainly students, trucks carrying essential commodities and patients going for medical treatment are put to undue hardship at the State borders due to this... Imposing restrictions of inter-State movement of people by States is contrary to the instructions of Government of India," the Chief Minister wrote.
"I request your urgent intervention in this matter so that the hardship of people from Kerala travelling to the neighbouring state of Karnataka can be avoided," he added.
Earlier on Saturday, Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar had announced that people from Maharashtra and Kerala would not be allowed to enter the state without a negative RT-PCR test result.
"We have issued circulars for COVID-19 after seeing the surge in Maharashtra and Kerala and both the states share borders with us. On average, 4,000-5,000 cases being reported in Kerala and 5,000-6,000 in Maharashtra daily. We have issued circulars that unless we see RT-PCR negative certificates from those coming from these states, they will not be permitted to enter," Sudhakar had told reporters.
As per the state health department, there are currently 55,486 active COVID-19 cases in Kerala. As many as 4,105 deaths have been reported from the state so far.
( With inputs from ANI )
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