The High Court of Karnataka on Monday ordered issue of notice to the State government on a PIL petition seeking a direction for opening the Saradka border checkpost in Adyanadaka village on the State Highway connecting Bantwal taluk in Dakshina Kannada district and Manjeshwar taluk in Kasaragod district of Kerala.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice M. Nagaprasanna passed the order on the petition filed by Radhakrishna Nayak J.S. and two others of Manjeshwar taluk.
The petitioners, whose mother tongue is Kannada and Tulu, said they were unable to reach Bantwal taluk in Karnataka and Perla village in Manjeshwar taluk itself as they had to pass through the Saradka checkpost in Karnataka. The checkpost has been closed on account of COVID-19 restrictions.
Though the government opened the National Highway stretch between Kasaragod and Mangaluru after lifting the lockdown, the Saradka checkpost was not reopened for movement between the two States. The petitioners claimed that this had affected the movement of those living in the border villages in Manjeshwar who are dependent on Perla and Bantwal towns for their daily needs, education, and medical facilities.
