Notwithstanding the prohibition on entry of emergency medical cases from Kerala to Karnataka via National Highway 66, the State continues to allow the supply of essential commodities to Kerala, particularly its northern parts, through the Talapady check-post in Dakshina Kannada district.
Kasaragod district and Malabar region of Kerala are dependent on Karnataka for essential commodities such as rice, cereals and pulses, including green gram. Coastal Karnataka used to get copra, coconut oil, rubber sheets and more from Kerala.
Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B. Rupesh told The Hindu that essential commodities were being moved to Kerala regularly. The March 31 order issued by the State government under Section 2 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, barring the movement of patients from other States into Karnataka for treatment or diagnosis, in view of the severe shortage of healthcare facilities in the State, has not come in the way of the transport of essential commodities. The order, effective from April 1, will be in force till April 15.
Bunder market
The Old Bunder wholesale sub-market in Mangaluru has been the main source of commodities for Kerala. Old Bunder Wholesale Kirana Merchants’ Association President P. Panduranga Bhandarkar told The Hindu that merchants have been adhering to tshe directions issued by the district administration on the supply of commodities to Kerala.
Regions in north Kerala, up to Payyanur and Kannur, get commodities from the Mangaluru market. Though there are restrictions on the number of people who can be present at a time in the market now, about 50% of the workforce, comprising loaders as well as merchants, is working to ensure supply of commodities within the district as well as outside, he said.
Petroleum products
Meanwhile, the movement of petroleum products to Kerala too is going on unhindered. Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd., the lone petrochemical complex in Karnataka, caters to the requirements of north Kerala.
Bullet tankers carrying LPG to bottling parts and fuel tankers transporting petrol and diesel in Kerala have been moving on a routine basis. Oil marketing companies get these products from MRPL.