Mangaluru: Cyclists pedal through city to save Netravati amidst bandh

Bengaluru, May 1: Karnataka government has assigned State Nodal Officers after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) order regarding the inter-state movement of stranded migrant workers, tourists, pilgrims and students during the lockdown period.

The Nodal officers have also been appointed for coordination with 11 different states.

In an order issued on Thursday, Karnataka Government wrote, "To facilitate smooth and orderly movement of persons across State borders as per SOPs, the undersigned, in the exercise of powers conferred under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and in the capacity as Chairman, State Executive Committee, hereby appoint the following officers as Nodal officers to coordinate with Nodal Officers of States/Union Territories (UTs) mentioned against their names."

Dr Rajkumar Khatri, IAS and Arun Jeji Chakravarthy, IPS will be overall in charge of the movement of stranded people from outside States/UTs to Karnataka.

N Manjunatha Prasad, IAS and P S Sandhu, IPS will be overall in charge of the movement of stranded people from Karnataka to other States/UTs.

Bengaluru, Jul 10: Alarmed by the surging COVID-19 cases across the state, especially in Bengaluru, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Thursday urged the state capital’s residents not to visit their villages to prevent the infection’s spread.

“I urge the people of Bengaluru not to travel to their villages and prevent the infection from spreading in rural areas,” Yediurappa told reporters.

Admitting that the battle against the virus would be long, he said that the fight against COVID-19 could be won only through persistent efforts and with people’s cooperation with the frontline ‘warriors’.

“Combating the pandemic through preventive measures, providing treatment to the infected and saving lives are our priority,” he said.

With a record 2,228 positive cases on Thursday, the southern state’s COVID-19 tally shot up to 31,105, including 17,782 active cases, while 457 people have died of the infection till date, 17 just in the last 24 hours.

Of the new cases in the state, Bengaluru accounted for 1,373, taking its tally to 13,882, including 10,870 active, while 177 have succumbed to the virus since March 9.

No deaths were, however, reported in the city on Thursday.

Of the 457 patients in intensive care units (ICU) across the state, 292 are in Bengaluru hospitals.

Since unlock began on June 1, COVID-19 cases shot up to 15,242 on June 30 from 3,221 on May 31 and to 31,105 in 9 days since July 1.

Similarly, in Bengaluru, positive cases shot up to 4,555 on June 30 from 358 on May 31 and rose to 13,882 in 9 days since July 1.

The Chief Minister also appealed to all legislators of the ruling and opposition parties to give priority to contain the disease in their Assembly segments.

“Visit the COVID-19 designated hospitals and inspect if the required facilities are in place and bring any shortcomings to our notice,” the CM said

Bengaluru, Jul 7: There seems no impact of Covid-19 on kharif crop sowing in Karnataka with the current year actually being ahead of previous years, according to an official here on Monday.

"In agriculture, as far as sowing is concerned, there is no impact of COVID-19," Agriculture Commissioner Brijesh Kumar Dikshit told IANS. One of the reasons, according to Dikshit, is that people in rural areas are aware, but not scared of the pandemic.

"In rural India, coronavirus is there. People are aware, not scared. They are taking precautions, but don't have any phobia," he said.

Another reason was that by June the number of infections in Karnataka was not as high as other states, when a lot of sowing was done, he said.

By the end of June, Karnataka saw 15,242 Covid-19 cases. Of that, 7,074 were active.

The sowing is ahead of previous year as it's mostly dependent on weather. "It's ahead of previous years. Agriculture is directed by weather and rains had been slightly earlier this year," he said.

According to Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, at 185 mm the state received 14 mm less rain in June against the normal 199 mm. "It's like a normal year, or slightly a good year," he said.

Some crops will be sown in the last fortnight of July and few more will extend up to August 15. "The last two weeks will be critical and on July 31 we should be able to tell whether we are short or ahead," he said.

According to preliminary indications, the Commissioner said the area under agriculture is increasing this year, which could also be because that labourers might have come back.