VIJAYAPURA: Evading interstate checkposts, many migrants and residents of border areas of Karnataka and Maharashtra slip past policemen and make their way illegally through the dry Bheema riverbed. Hundreds of people crossing the borders on two-wheelers and barefoot, without valid passes and permissions from the authorities, are a common sight at the Bheema river, which runs as a border between Karnataka and Maharashtra, in Chadachan taluk of Vijayapura.
With an increase in migrants entering Karnataka through the inner routes, residents of villages located on the banks of the river are afraid of getting infected by the virus. The police, in association with the district administration, have set up interstate checkposts, and deployed personnel. Only vehicles with valid passes are allowed to enter and exit the interstate border.
“As institutional quarantine is mandatory for travellers coming to Karnataka from hotspot states, mainly Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, they want to avoid it and opt for inner roads, and beds of streams and rivers to cross the border,” a source said. Among the 67 active cases in the district, 85% have travel history to Maharashtra. Additional SP Ram L Arasidi told TNIE, “We will increase patrolling along borders and deploy men in the villages along the river bank. Those caught illegally crossing the border will be put in institutional quarantine,” he said.