Within hours of Mysuru Deputy Commissioner Rohini Sindhuri passing an order mandating a COVID-19 RT-PCR negative report for tourists entering the district from Benagluru, the state government overruled it. The state government order issued by N Manjunath Prasad, Principal Secretary Revenue Department and the Member-Secretary of Disaster Management, said that the Mysuru DC order was being struck down to bring uniformity in regulations across the state.
As reported on Thursday, the order by district authorities had said while there is no bar on entry to Mysuru from Bengaluru, a negative test report was required for staying at hotels and will be mandatory from April 10. The same restriction has been imposed on tourist spots, movie theatres, marriage halls and recreational clubs.
Sources in the DC’s office said that the decision was taken keeping in mind the expected rush with the Ugadi festival approaching and the high case load in Bengaluru. The source had said the order by the DC was issued only after consulting with the district-in-charge minister ST Somasekhar.
On April 3, the Kodagu district administration had issued an order on the same grounds for temporary closure of tourist spots in the district. Deputy Commissioner Charulatha Somal had said this order was applicable until April 20. The curb includes barring entry to popular tourist spots including the popular destination Raja’s Seat. This order has not been overruled by the state government as of now.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has announced a night curfew in Mysuru, Bengaluru and five other major cities of Karnataka for 10 days starting from April 10. The curfew will come into effect from 10 pm to 5 am every day from April 10 (Saturday) to April 20 (Tuesday). The cities that will face the curfew will be Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mangaluru, Kalaburagi, Bidar, Tumkur and Udupi-Manipal.