Karnataka steps up vigil to prevent influx from Maharashtra

The Karnataka government has asked 60 police stations located on the long border with Maharashtra to keep a tight vigil on people sneaking into the southern state. Karnataka home minister Basavaraj Bommai told reporters that a large number of people coming from Maharashtra are testing positive for Covid-19 in the state.

People are trying to come in large numbers either on foot or on bicycles and other modes of transport, spreading the risk in Karnataka. He also said the government is shifting inter-district police checkpoints to border areas with Maharashtra to prevent influx of people.

People are entering Belagavi, Bijapur, Kalaburgi and Bidar through border villages, increasing the risk of coronavirus spread in Karnataka, minister of state for railways Suresh Angadi told ET. Angadi represents Belagavi in the Lok Sabha. “We don’t want to open border roads with Maharashtra till the situation improves in that state. We have asked the administration of all border districts to prevent unauthorised entry into the state,” he said.

Karnataka has restricted road traffic from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat in view of the steep spread of the infection in those states. A majority of the 187 Covid-19 positive cases reported on Monday were linked to Maharashtra.

State Sees 187 Cases, One Death
Bengaluru Karnataka reported 187 cases of Covid-19 and one death on Monday, taking the state's tally to 3,408 cases and 52 deaths. Udupi district reported the highest number of cases at 73, followed by Bengaluru Urban (28) and Kalaburgi (24). Most of the new patients in Udupi were Maharashtra returnees, while there were also some who had returned from the UAE. The health department has yet to establish the source of infection in at least 35 cases in Udupi.

After experiencing a decrease in the number of cases for several days, Bengaluru reported a jump in new cases on Monday. Of the 28 cases reported in the city on Monday, 22 were people who had returned from Maharashtra. The city has reported 385 cases so far, of which only 136 are active cases.