Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SHP)

Bengaluru, May 28: With growing coronavirus cases, Government of Karnataka has once again placed a ban on the travelling of people from neighbouring states. The ban was placed on five states instead of earlier four. No flights, trains or other vehicles would be allowed to come in Karnataka from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The list contains high-risk states who have recorded most cases and deaths by coronavirus infections in the country.

The decision comes at a time when the state government observed that most of the fresh coronavirus cases have been of people coming in from other states or countries.

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While the number of coronavirus cases was growing at a relatively low pace compared to other states until recently it surged because of interstate travel. Over 24 hours ending this morning, 118 of the 135 new cases reported, were of people who had travelled from other states.

By evening, after a cabinet meeting, Karnataka law minister JC Madhu Swamy said, "We will see that no infected person from Maharashtra, Gujarat or Tamil Nadu will enter by road, for some 10-15 days, because we have a heavy load on us."

Quarantine for incoming people is also posing a problem, the minister said, "We have to test them twice. It is consuming a lot of time and we are short of accommodation. So we are restricting movement until these people move out of quarantine," he added.

On May 18, days after Lockdown 4.0 was announced, Karnataka had banned the entry of people from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

The order came after the Centre said that movement of passengers will be allowed only with mutual consent of states.

But soon after, the Centre had allowed domestic flights, over-riding the objections of states that wanted stricter coronavirus protocol. Passenger train service is expected to start in a limited fashion from June 1.

The inclusion of air traffic in the list of bans was due to the fact that Karnataka was expecting 15,000 passengers per day, which would put more stress on the system, the minister said.