Keralites residing in Karnataka and other States have started arriving by vehicles at Talapady check post at the Kerala-Karnataka border since early morning on Monday.
At Talapady elaborate arrangements had been made with over 100 help desk opened to receive the people arriving at the State border. The help desk was opened at 8 a.m, however, people started flooding here since early morning, especially from neighboring states of Karnataka. The helpdesk had a tough time as several people, who have not registered also arrived here. They were permitted token after registering them on the government website.
District Collector D Sajith Babu, said it is expected that Keralites, most of them from Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Bihar are expected to arrive through National Highways 66, 47 and 48.
He said about 4500 people have registered on the government website and accordingly extensive system are being prepared to check the status and health status of those arriving at Talapady, he said.
For people, who would be arriving by vehicles, the officers of Regional Transport Office and Police will provide tokens for each vehicle reaching the district boundary from the Karnataka border. According to the token numbers, a captain or driver would go to help desks for inspection. Only they are allowed to get out of the vehicle, the collector said.
Only three people in the four-seater vehicle and five people in the seven-seater vehicles were allowed to travel. Based on the documents submitted by the captain or driver, a team of Junior Health Inspector and RTO Revenue Officers will inspect the vehicle and verify the number of passengers, health details, compliance with the COVID-19 protocol, and the current status.
Anyone suspected of symptoms for COVID -19 will be relocated to the observation centre. Those who are in the district after the inspection will be sent by the ambulance for observation. Ambulances are available to take people to the other districts as well.
Meanwhile, the district administration had arranged vehicles up to Payyanur in Kannur district for the people who have arrived till the Talapady check post. However, the officials were caught in a dilemma as they had no arrangements for those from other districts.
“We have no idea how they will be accommodated or transported to other districts,” said a senior official on duty. There is no clear instruction in this regard so far he added.