Kerala CM to take up Karnataka border closure over rising COVID-19 cases with Centre

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said that the issue of closure of many border roads from Kerala to Karnataka will be brought to the notice of the Central Government.

This comes in light of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the state.

The Chief Minister said that the move to close the borders and block vehicles from Kerala was against the Central Government's guideline that no state should impose any restrictions on inter-state travel.

"Karnataka government has taken the decision that only those who show a negative RTPCR test certificate will be allowed to enter Karnataka. The state police chief has brought the matter to the notice of the Karnataka DGP. The Karnataka DGP assured that vehicles carrying essential items could be exempted from this requirement," Vijayan said at a press COVID-19 press briefing.

He further said that Kerala would continue to take up the issue with the Karnataka government to resolve it, and beyond that, the decision to bring the issue to the attention of the center will be taken up.

Earlier on Saturday, Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar had said that seeing the surge in cases in Maharashtra and Kerala, states that share borders with Karnataka, people would only be allowed from the two states if they produce negative RT-PCR tests.

( With inputs from ANI )