KOCHI: The High Court on Wednesday directed the Kasaragod District Disaster Management Authority chairman and the district magistrate to open four roads from Thursday to facilitate the travel of persons and transportation of goods between Kerala and Karnataka. A division bench comprising Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly issued the order on the petition filed by BJP leader and Kasaragod district panchayat member K Shreekanth seeking to declare the prohibition on interstate travel through 12 interstate roads between Kerala and Karnataka and the mandate that everybody travel via the national highways as illegal.
V Sajith Kumar, Shreekanth’s counsel, submitted that the order was issued in violation of the Unlock guidelines of the Centre. The prohibition on the movement of vehicles was creating difficulties to people of the district. The government pleader said the district needs to ensure that areas prone to disasters are identified and measures to prevent such disasters are to be taken by the district and local authorities.
So those intending to cross borders need to obtain passes. This does not mean there are restrictions on movement contrary to the Centre’s guidelines. The state government said 247 Covid cases were reported in Dakshina Kannada and 99 in nearby Kasaragod on August 25.
The state government said that only NH-47 is opened for travelling between the two states. There are four other state highways leading to Karnataka — the Perla, Jalsoor, Panathoor and Manimoola-Bandaduka district road — and the state has decided to open the roads from Thursday.