Karnataka | 138 UK passengers sans covid negative certificate traced; samples collected

coastaldigest.com news network

December 23, 2020

Bengaluru, Dec 23: The Karnataka government has so far traced 138 passengers who had arrived in the state from the UK without a Covid-19 test report, said Health Minister Dr Sudhakar on Wednesday.

As many as 2,500 international passengers had arrived in Karnataka from the UK between November 25 and December 23. However, out of these, 138 who returned on December 19 and 20 from the UK did not have a negative Covid-19 certificate.

Sudhakar revealed that all these 138 passengers from the UK had been traced and their samples had been collected.

"We are awaiting the test results soon," Dr Sudhakar said. The collected samples will be sent to one of the four labs in Bengaluru that specialise in genetic sequencing -- NIMHANS, National Centre for Biological Sciences, IISc or National Institute of Virology, Bengaluru Field Unit, according to the minister.

"The cost of the sequencing will be borne by the state government and passengers need not pay for it. Results will be available in two to three days," he added.

Apart from this, the health department is monitoring the health status of those who had returned from the UK earlier.

"Those who have arrived in Karnataka in the past two weeks will be monitored by the officials of the health department. Among them, only the symptomatic will be tested. Those who have arrived in the first two weeks since November 25 have to self-monitor at home," Dr Sudhakar explained.

Further, all international passengers arriving from any part of the world must land with a Covid-19 Negative certificate which is not older than 72 hours or get the test done on arrival at the airport. The minister clarified that there was no ban on interstate travel.

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

Why Mangaluru Could Become India’s Next Offshore Wind Energy Hub

News Network

February 3,2026

Dakshina Kannada MP Capt Brijesh Chowta has urged the Centre to give high priority to offshore wind energy generation along the Mangaluru coast, citing its strategic importance to India’s green energy and port-led development goals.

Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha under Rule 377, Chowta said studies by the National Institute of Oceanography have identified the Mangaluru coastline as part of India’s promising offshore wind ‘Zone-2’, covering nearly 6,490 sq km. He noted that the region’s relatively low exposure to cyclones and earthquakes makes it suitable for long-term offshore wind projects and called for its development as a dedicated offshore wind energy zone.

Highlighting the role of New Mangalore Port, Chowta said its modern infrastructure, multiple berths and heavy cargo-handling capacity position it well as a logistics hub for transporting and assembling large wind energy equipment.

He also pointed to the presence of major industrial units such as MRPL, OMPL, UPCL and the Mangaluru SEZ, which could serve as direct buyers of green power through power purchase agreements, improving project viability and speeding up execution.

With Karnataka’s peak power demand crossing 18,000 MW in early 2025, Chowta stressed the need to diversify renewable energy sources. He added that offshore wind projects in the Arabian Sea are strategically safer compared to the cyclone-prone Bay of Bengal.

Calling the project vital to India’s target of 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030, Chowta urged the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to initiate resource assessments, pilot projects and stakeholder consultations at the earliest.

Comments