A pregnant woman, who was stuck with her children at the Wayanad check post unable to enter Kannur due to the lockdown, was given special permission by the district collector T.V. Subhash to enter the district, on Tuesday.
Despite the lockdown, a native of Thalassery, Shijila, who is nine months pregnant, travelled from Bangalore with her two children, a family member and driver.
She claimed to have travelled through Karnataka after receiving permission from Bangalore commissioner. However, on arriving at the Muthanga check post she was denied entry into the Kannur district, Ms. Shijila told the media.
“We were forced to return back to Bangalore after permission was denied to us even after several hours of wait,” she claimed. But on reaching Mysuru, the Karnataka police stopped and forced them to return back. After spending the night at the petrol bunk, they reached Waynad check post on Monday.
Mr. Subhash said that Thalassery falls under the red zone. Permitting all of them was not possible. However considering it as a special case and after getting permission from the Chief Minister’s Office only the pregnant woman has been allowed to enter the district, he said.
She can either stay in home isolation or at the facilities arranged by the government after entering the district, he added.
There are clear instructions not to issue any passes for inter-district and inter-state movement, the collector said.
“Except in case of death of immediate relation, critically ill of immediate relation in which police will escort the person and he or she to go in quarantine in Government quarantine,” he said. No home quarantine would be allowed, he observed.
No other person needs to be allowed and the collector or police authorities should not issue transit passes in any other cases, the collector said citing the orders.
The Collector further noted that the Karnataka chief secretary Vijay Bhaskar has also issued strict instruction to their Director General of Police not to issue any passes following the incident.
