COVID-19: Kerala HC gives one-off waiver, 237 people without passes enter state through Walayar

The state, meanwhile, sought the help of the Tamil Nadu Police to stop people without valid passes from travelling to the borders as cases go up in the neighbouring state.
To avoid being quarantined in government facilities, several people have been giving wrong addresses as point of origin. (Photo | BP Deepu, EPS)
To avoid being quarantined in government facilities, several people have been giving wrong addresses as point of origin. (Photo | BP Deepu, EPS)

KOCHI/ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As many as 237 people from other states stuck at Walayar checkpost, many of them since Saturday morning, were finally given passes and allowed entry into the state on Sunday night after the High Court intervened and issued a one-off order to the Kerala Government after seeing their plight. The state, meanwhile, sought the help of the Tamil Nadu Police to stop people without valid passes from travelling to the borders as cases go up in the neighbouring state.

“Immediate attention and preference shall be given to pregnant women, elderly and children. Others shall also be issued passes at the earliest avoiding unnecessary delay since they are stranded (on the border) from May 5,” observed the division bench comprising Justice Shaji P Chaly and Justice M R Anitha while issuing the order at a special sitting held on Sunday.

The court said the directions were issued taking the special circumstances into consideration and the order “cannot be treated as a precedent for any future purposes”. Later in the night, DySP Manoj Kumar confirmed to The New Indian Express that 137 people who had been stranded at the border since Saturday morning and another 100 who arrived on Sunday, all without passes, were allowed to enter the state following the High Court order. 

When the case came up for hearing, Additional Advocate-General Ranjit Thampan submitted before the court that no person could be permitted to enter the state from other states without obtaining passes as per the government order. While nearly 2,007 persons who came from other states with passes crossed Walayar checkpost on Sunday, many were seen waiting on the other side of the border. As many as 120 of them were sent to Covid care centres in Palakkad district as they had arrived from red zone areas.

“We have set up 24 round-the-clock counters to process the passes of inbound passengers. We haven’t let in anyone without passes,” K O Varghese, tahsildar who is also the Executive Magistrate of the Walayar checkpost, said earlier in the day. Keralites stranded on the TN side were taken in buses provided by the Coimbatore administration at 10.30pm on Saturday to a camp in Kaliyaparambu in the TN city, he said. 

‘People coming in from red zone a threat to state’

The government, meanwhile, informed the High Court that a large number of persons coming from the red zone areas in other states is a possible threat for community spread of coronavirus in the state. Crowding of them at the checkposts too is a threat.  Of the total 59,675 passes issued so far, 26,583 were for the persons arriving from red zone districts, the government told the court.

Keeping this in mind, the Kerala Police have requested their Tamil Nadu counterparts to fairly evaluate the geographical locations provided by Keralites residing in that state while they apply for travel passes.
The decision was taken after it was noted that a large number of people, who had already applied for passes, concealed the fact that they were from ‘red zone’ districts. Of the 38 districts in Tamil Nadu, 12 fall under ‘red zone’ which means they have Covid cases. As per the state government policy, the people from red zone districts need to undergo 14 days’ mandatory institutional quarantine, while those arriving from other districts without any symptoms can go in for home isolation. 

To avoid being quarantined in government facilities, several people have been giving wrong addresses as point of origin. The matter was taken up by state police chief Loknath Behera with his TN counterpart JK Tripathy on Sunday. “Unless and until the people have passes of both the states, we won’t allow them to enter the state. Now, the Tamil Nadu government has also agreed to act tough. “We have also asked them to verify the details provided by people while applying for passes.  They have agreed to do that. There are many people who hide their real place of residence and we want to put an end to it,” Behera said.

The petitioner argued that even though the persons travelling have secured passes from the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu authorities, they could not secure passes from Kerala, since the platform offered by the state government is not properly functional. The court asked the Kerala Government to ensure basic facilities at the entry points. The court also ordered the state government to adequately attend to the plea of the 13 students stuck in at Malahalla — a forest area where wild animals are present — near Muthanga for allowing entry into the state.

NRKs’ surveillance to be strengthened

T’Puram: With three more NRKs testing positive for Covid-19, the Health Department has decided to strengthen surveillance of expats who arrived in the state from Thursday. Considering the new scenario, a section of the officers has raised an alarm against the quarantine protocol for foreign returnees. 

Traders offer  help to expats

The traders’ fraternity of Penta Menaka complex in Kochi has an emotional connect with expatriates as the building has many shops run by Gulf returnees. It prompted the Penta Menaka Owners’ Welfare Association to raise D25 lakh for a chartered flight from Dubai to Kerala for bringing back those who are stuck in the UAE and cannot afford tickets to India. The association has already placed a request before the Union  Home Ministry. 

As many as 698 Indians were evacuated from the Maldives as part of Operation Samudra Setu
While 440 of them were Keralites, 187 were natives of Tamil Nadu Jalashwa, which set sail from Male port on Friday night, reached Kochi at 9.30 am.

The ships carrying Keralites stranded in Lakshadweep reached Kochi on Sunday. As many as 129 people aboard the ships disembarked at Mattancherry wharf.

Six entry points
Inchivila (T’Puram)
Aryankavu (Kollam)
Kumily (Idukki)
Walayar (Palakkad)  
Muthanga (Wayanad)
Manjeswar (Kasaragod)

No of persons who crossed the checkposts
Walayar: 13,504
Manjeswar: 4,306
Muthanga: 589
Kumily: 1,435
Aryankavu: 1,101
Inchivila: 801

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