Night travel ban through Bandipur restored
The Bandipur-Mudumalai (Tamil Nadu) and Bandipur-Sultan Bathery (Kerala) road stretches will soon be rid of most inter-state vehicles during the night.
The Karnataka High Court on Monday issued interim directions, staying a June 10 government order to withdraw the ban on vehicular movement imposed by local authorities.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice P D Dinakaran and Justice V G Sabhahit stayed the withdrawal order on a petition by L Srinivasa Babu, a City-based lawyer and party-in-person, who had challenged the government’s decision to lift the ban. The Deputy Commissioner of Chamrajanagar had ordered a ban on vehicular movement on June 3, 2009, as a protective measure to prevent road kills of rare wildlife on the two busy stretches. But this order was withdrawn within seven days. Challenging the order in the High Court, the petitioner contended that the withdrawal was due to political pressure and to please truck owners. The stretch of about 30 km passed through the Bandipur Tiger Reserve and National Park, which needed to be protected.
The petitioner reasoned that vehicular movement disturbed wildlife and had even led to the killing of hundreds of rare and endangered animals every year. By allowing vehicles along the stretches, the wildlife in the sanctuary near the roads up to 2 km would be disturbed, he contended. The petitioner said the routes would be just 15 km long compared with the existing roads.
DH News Service
