ANANTAPUR: With the Karnataka government announcing a 14-day lockdown from April 27 night across the state and the closure of its borders, people from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana state are returning to native places. Both states will stop running buses towards Bengaluru and also other districts like Bellary, Raichur, Bidar and Tumkur in Karnataka from Tuesday.
District administrations along the border in AP were alerted over the possible rise of positive cases in villages following the return of migrant labourers from Karnataka.
Though Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa announced the construction, manufacturing, and agriculture sectors will be allowed to continue, the migrant farmers and settlers returning to their villages suspecting that the crisis would continue. A similar situation was witnessed last year when the lockdown was imposed across the country.
Border areas like Madakasira, Kalyanadurgam, and Rayadurgam in Anantapur districts, Adoni, Emiganur, and Mantralayam in Kurnool, Madanapalle in Chittoor district have close access with Karnataka.
For instance, all five mandals of the Madakasira Assembly segment covered by Karnataka from all four sides, except an R&B Road from Hindupur, and the area had connectivity with Bengaluru and Tumkur. The Mantralayam temple town is located in Andhra Pradesh closer to the Karnataka border and KSRTC operates a huge number of buses on normal days.
The sudden decision, however, caused confusion for many who had to visit Karnataka to attend marriage and other important occasions. A man from Hyderabad had to travel to Hospet in Vijayanagar district of Karnataka on April 29 to get married. With no clear instructions about passes, the family was plunged into confusion and approached Karnataka officials.
“We got permission for marriage at a function hall one week ago by following Covid-19 norms, but the sudden lockdown put things out of gear,” the family members of the bridegroom said.
