The district administration of Tamil Nadu’s Vellore ordered on Monday evening that of the two concrete walls constructed on an interstate highway connecting Andhra Pradesh’s (AP) Chittoor district a day before, be demolished.
‘We’ve pulled down the walls that were erected on two places on the state highway connecting Vellore with Chittoor districts,’ Vellore district collector A Shanmuga Sundaram told Hindustan Times.
‘The Vellore district administration ordered the demolition of the walls after Chittoor district collector N Bharat Gupta took up the matter with Sundaram, citing the immediate need to restore emergency transport services,’ Chittoor joint collector D Markandeyulu said.
Why Were The Walls Built?
Tamil Nadu’s Vellore built walls across the roads bordering Andhra Pradesh’s Chittoor district, preventing travel between these two places, to regulate further vehicle movements amid the ongoing pandemic and lock-down.
Walls up to 7-ft were constructed at two entry and exit points on Chittoo-Gudiyatham road and Chittoor-Ponni-Chennai road, including access to cancer hospital.
The move came after the hike in COVID-19 numbers was observed, with Andhra Pradesh’s cases at 1,097 positive cases, as per updates till Monday and 1,885 cases from Tamil Nadu.
The order for the construction was issued by Vellore district collector, A Shanmuga Sundram, stating that people returning to Vellore will have to undergo a health check-up at the medical camps at the check posts and quarantined if found positive.
Shanmuga said that the move was to check unauthorized entry of people like migrant laborers, who use vehicles including buses to enter Tamil Nadu without valid permission. ‘Since the chances of getting detected at the main border crossing is high, some people tend to use little-noticed locations in remote places,’ he told PTI.
The walls were constructed without taking the Chittoor district authorities into confidence. D Markandeyulu, joint collector of Chittoor said the authorities had not even been consulted or issued any prior notice before the enforcement of the decision.
He said that the inter-state borders remain sealed to monitor the spread of the COVID-19, but vehicles carrying essential commodities including food were permitted to move.
‘People are allowed to travel between states as there are always certain emergencies. The border check-posts are meant for that purpose. If state highways are blocked permanently by constructing walls, it will affect the emergency transport services,’ said Markandeyulu.
Also Read: Around 350 Tablighi Jamaat Members Who Recovered From COVID-19 To Donate Plasma
