Mangaluru, Aug 6 (IANS): Police in Karnataka's Dakshina Kannada district are taking steps to block roads at an entry point from neighbouring Kerala's Kasargod district to prevent unchecked ingress, an official said on Thursday August 5.

A police official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told IANS that over the previous three days, they deployed earthmovers to dig up roads within the jurisdiction of Karnataka to prevent smooth flow of traffic from Kerala.

"It is humanly impossible to keep a check on each and every individual who crosses the border. Therefore, we came up with this idea to prevent the smooth flow of traffic from Kerala for the time being, as Covid cases in Dakshin Kannada are on the rise," he said.

Meanwhile, opposing the move, even local residents staged a sit-in at the Talapady check post in Kasaragod around three days ago alleging that Karnataka Police move was affecting the movement of vehicles entering Kerala from Karnataka. The protestors demanded smooth commuting to Karnataka, without a mandatory RT-PCR certificate.

During the protest, as soon as a person, in heat of argument, crossed the check post, the police took him into custody.

According to a health bulletin released by the Dakshin Kannada district authorities on Wednesday, 350 positive cases were reported on Wednesday and positivity rate stood at 4.07 per cent.

A health officer from Mangaluru told IANS that the number of cases in Dakshina Kannada are far higher compared to Bengaluru, which has a larger population.

"We have to take stringent steps like redirecting the traffic to 12 check-posts in Karnataka where checking can be carried out properly, therefore, at some points they may have dug up roads," he said.