GUNTUR: People coming from Telangana are facing difficulties due to lack of e-passes. On Friday evening, hundreds of vehicles were stranded at the inter-state border check-post in Pondugala village of Dachepalli mandal.
People who arrived on the inter-state border after 7 pm, were asked to stay there till Saturday morning. The Andhra Pradesh police have closed the border at Nagarjuna Sagar and are allowing passage only through Dachepalli in Guntur district.
Majority of these people are natives of Andhra Pradesh. They have migrated to Hyderabad for job purpose. With rumours circulating about reimposition of lockdown in Hyderabad, most people are in a rush to return to their native places, but they are stopped at the border, as several people lack a valid e-Pass.
It may be noted that the Andhra Pradesh police accepts an e-pass obtained from Spandana portal and reject any type of permission from Telangana. Even those with valid passes undergo thermal scanning and quarantine at the entry point.
Last week an average of 1,500 persons per day entered Andhra Pradesh at Pondugala, while during the past few days, more than 2,000 people are crossing the inter-state border every day. The number increases up to 3,000 on Sundays. R Srinivasa Rao of Sattenapalli said that police take more than 30 minutes to conduct thermal screening and only after that they issue an e-pass.
Gurazala Revenue Divisional Officer J Parthasarathy said over 70,000 vehicles entered Andhra Pradesh since June 1. A team of doctors conduct thermal screening and collect samples from people which are then uploaded on the App along with their details, before allowing them to enter Andhra Pradesh, he added.