[Garth]

Applied for Kerala pass and TN transit pass today, and both approved instantaneously.

[deemash]

Done CBE-Cherthala trip this morning.
Started at 6am from Coimbatore and reached Walayar at 6.45am.

No one asked or stopped me for a pass and No one directed me to the pass counter at the border. I saw only one police at the Walayar check post and the highway was open. Saw couple of cars voluntarily taking left to the epass counter.

Walayar toll plaza failed to read my Fastag, as always.

Vadakkancherry, the service road is in bad condition and the stretch till thrissur had potholes in some stretches.

It took 15 minutes to cross the Paliyekkara toll plaza with Fastag. Was in at 8.15am and was out by 8.30am. There was bad traffic than I expected. I got all traffic signals that created more traffic blocks.

[Sandy28]

Originally Posted by deemash

Done CBE-Cherthala trip this morning.
Started at 6am from Coimbatore and reached Walayar at 6.45am.

No one asked or stopped me for a pass and No one directed me to the pass counter at the border. I saw only one police at the Walayar check post and the highway was open. Saw couple of cars voluntarily taking left to the epass counter.

Walayar toll plaza failed to read my Fastag, as always.

Vadakkancherry, the service road is in bad condition and the stretch till thrissur had potholes in some stretches.

It took 15 minutes to cross the Paliyekkara toll plaza with Fastag. Was in at 8.15am and was out by 8.30am. There was bad traffic than I expected. I got all traffic signals that created more traffic blocks.

Have they stopped checking at Walayar or was this a one off incident? This is the first time I have heard no checking at Walayar.

Any other checking between Walayar and Chertala?

What about quarantine? Did anybody call or come home to check on that?

[deemash]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

Have they stopped checking at Walayar or was this a one off incident? This is the first time I have heard no checking at Walayar.

Any other checking between Walayar and Chertala?

What about quarantine? Did anybody call or come home to check on that?

Not sure if this was one off incident. Couple of people in this forum had same experience. Mostly, because this happened early morning I guess.

No checking between Walayar and Cherthala anywhere.
No quarantine as I applied for a short visit. Also, there was no evidence of me getting into Kerala. So no one called.

While returning also there were no checks at Kerala exit point. As soon as I crossed the border on TN side, I was directed to the make shift kind of tent where I had to show the TN entry pass.

About road condition - The Vadakkancherry service road is in bad condition in both directions.

[Garth]

One question to whosoever has travelled out of Bangalore to Kerala recently. My TN transit pass mentions that it is to be used between 7 am and 7 pm only. But, what is the on ground scenario?

I plan to start at around 5 am from my place in Whitefield. Will they allow to cross over into TN around 5:4 to 6 am? Or will I need to start later so that I hit TN only around 7 am?

Thanks in advance.

[amods]

This is relevant for those who are facing lack of "Family visit" option when short visit is selected.

I was facing the same issue for short visit. Couldn't get an option so applied in "Property management" section. Created a pdf having IDs of travelers and wrote a small application in it, indicating the issue in website(I don't think it is required anymore).

For 3-4 days the application was in "waiting for action" state. So, finally I applied for "domestic entry" option which got auto approved immediately, but it asked for check-post entry timings and date while applying - because of this, I had to alter my planned route as the original route(via nagercoil) which I had planned was not listed in the entry checkpoints section.

In short visit, I was not asked for entry checkpoints.

Finally, 2 days ago the short visit pass also got approved.

I applied for TN transit pass as well which asks entry and exit points as well. It gets auto approved immediately.

[amods]

Originally Posted by Garth

One question to whosoever has travelled out of Bangalore to Kerala recently. My TN transit pass mentions that it is to be used between 7 am and 7 pm only. But, what is the on ground scenario?

I plan to start at around 5 am from my place in Whitefield. Will they allow to cross over into TN around 5:4 to 6 am? Or will I need to start later so that I hit TN only around 7 am?

Thanks in advance.

Wow, never noticed this in my TN transit pass. Yes, it is mentioned.

But, I don't think it is relevant as it is very impractical to start at 7 it I am travelling to say, Trivandrum which is the case with me.

I am going to start at 4 AM from KR Puram via hosur. Going to paste the pass at windshield and I am not hoping for any block because they can't close the highway anyway and there will be chaos if they stop vehicles before 7AM.

[Garth]

Originally Posted by amods

I am going to start at 4 AM from KR Puram via hosur. Going to paste the pass at windshield and I am not hoping for any block because they can't close the highway anyway and there will be chaos if they stop vehicles before 7AM.

I am planning to do the same. Let us see. Just wanted to see what other's experience with this has been.

[srikanthmadhava]

Hi,

Did a round trip on 13th Sep:
Bangalore-Hunsur-Gonikoppal-Makutta-Koottupuzha-Iritty and back to Bangalore.
Started at 5 in morning from Bangalore and reached back by night 10.30.

We were picking up parents who would stay with us for the next few weeks in Bangalore.

2 Passes applied with Date as 13-09-2020:
1. Domestic Entry with Family reunion option. Instant approval with any available check post slot. I selected Manjeshwaram check post(Kasaragod) even though I intended to take Makutta route.
2. Short Visit pass with option as 'Property Management' since I did not find any other option to meet family. This was neither approved nor rejected, still shows waiting for action.

The weather was cloudy throughout and it rained consistently on our return. Mysore road was good for most parts, Hunsur highway was just about 'ok' and the Makutta ghat section was good. There was heavy traffic within Karnataka while traffic on Kerala side was scarce.

Check Posts:
We were stopped on exiting the Koottupuzha bridge by a small check post. Here the car number was noted down and initial inquiry was made. We were asked to proceed to a check post around 1.5KM ahead and the officer called the other check post and informed about our vehicle.

The 2nd check post had couple of police officers taking initial information about where we are headed, what was our duration of stay and how many are present in the car etc. They forwarded us to the information entry place just behind the check post. Our pass numbers were taken and checked up in the system. I was informed that our pass type (Domestic entry from Bangalore) in a 'quarantine' type pass and I should have taken short visit pass if I was planning to return. They were courteous and informed that it should not be an issue for us to pass through (since we are returning same day), but I would have to inform the health department about our return since they would check up on the quarantined people for the domestic entry pass. One catch that was mentioned here was that 1 member of the travelling group (that's me here) will have to undergo tests and proceeded me to the testing counter. Here I again reiterated the purpose of visit, people in car, return date etc and they asked me to proceed without any tests.

Rain started pouring down from here and we proceeded to our home. Had late breakfast, packed lunch and started back with parents. We were not stopped anywhere during our return journey.

Got 2 calls from Police department today morning and I confirmed to them that we had returned same day and are currently in Bangalore.

[vrprabhu]

Returned to TN yesterday from Calicut via Walayar. No quarantine or even queries / follow-up during the four days I was there.

No checks / blocks anywhere - Kerala as well as TN.

At Walayar, you have to get down and go to the makeshift office to show your pass. You are given a paper chit containing the destination and the number of people travelling - which is collected by the policeman as you cross the barricades.

All the people who were there along with me had passes - there were about half-a-dozen cars.

After returning to TN, no calls or follow-up, so far.

It was raining cats and dogs on all the four days at Calicut (9th Sept. - 12th Sept.). However, roads were good - except for the Perinthalmanna junction, which is in very bad shape. If you travel during night, take lot of care.

Otherwise, all the repair works seem to have been completed - COVID-19 lockdown helped, I guess. Since there were not many buses on the road, traffic was manageable. Left Calicut by 1.30 PM and reached Walayar at about 5.00 PM.

All the shops, restaurants etc. are open everywhere - however, I stopped only once for petrol near Malappuram.

[Garth]

Any BHPians who made the Bangalore to Kerala journey this week via Walayar?

Are they still checking for passes etc?

Any updates on road conditions?

I am planning to do the drive tomorrow

[sachinpk]

Gents - is the 14 day quarantine rule still enforced in KL? I need to make a trip to Thrissur but the Health Dept folks still say that 14 days quarantine is required. My work in the town would get over in 1-3 days maximum.

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

Gents - is the 14 day quarantine rule still enforced in KL? I need to make a trip to Thrissur but the Health Dept folks still say that 14 days quarantine is required. My work in the town would get over in 1-3 days maximum.

It all depends now on the local health department and local administration.

I have heard some places (Thrissur) did not have any quarantine for short (few days) of visit, but whereas as some other places (Kannur/Kasargod) where 14 days quarantine is mandatory if you stay for more than 1 day in KL.

So, you will only know once you reach there.

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

I went out of Kerala state and returned within 24 hours, by air. I've been asked to go under quarantine for 14 days. With phone calls from local police station, health department inquiring about my health every 2-3 days. I do not have any symptoms till now, no COVID test will be conducted for me, the health inspector told, my quarantine completion certificate will be released digitally after 14 days completion. District - Alleppey

Spike

[amods]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

Gents - is the 14 day quarantine rule still enforced in KL? I need to make a trip to Thrissur but the Health Dept folks still say that 14 days quarantine is required. My work in the town would get over in 1-3 days maximum.

Get a short visit pass (max 8 days). There is no quarantine requirement for it.