Bengaluru: The connectivity issue between Kerala and Karnataka has continued even during the COVID-19 crisis, with Kerala chief minister Piranayi Vijayan seeking prime minister Narendra Modi's intervention to ensure free movement between Karnataka and Kerala.
However, Kodagu MLA K G Bopaiah has shot back saying that the borders could not be opened as Kerala was planning to send COVID-19 patients to Karnataka as they lacked medical facilities in their state.
After a series of COVID-19 cases testing positive in Mangaluru, where most of the patients are from Kerala, Karnataka decided to seal the border with Kerala in both Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu districts. Four major borders points in Kodagu district including Karki, Makutta and Kutta have been sealed, while in Dakshina Kannada all the major border roads leading to Kerala have been sealed.
On Saturday, Piranayi Vijayan wrote a letter to Prime Minister, saying the border closing has put many people in Kerala to hardship and asked him to direct the Karnataka government to open the border gates.
Earlier, Kerala had objected for Karnataka closing a road through Bandipur in Chamarajnagar district at night. Now, it is asking for a railway line through Kodagu, which is strongly opposed by Karnataka.
