Caution boards on Bannerghatta Road to curb animal accidents

‘Beware, Animal Crossing’, ‘Caution: Go Slow, Leopard Crossing.’ These are some of the sign boards Bengalureans cruising on Bannerghatta Road will soon be greeted by.

The Karnataka State Forest Department officials along with the Bangalore Traffic Police will be putting up such signages along with rubble-strip-type speed breakers in a fortnight. This is the first time such cautionary boards will be erected on City roads.

The decision was taken recently to save animals from being killed on the roads, subsequent to the death of a four-year-old pregnant leopard on Bannerghatta Road near Kalkere Circle in October.

Caution boards will be erected at two spots on the Bannerghatta Road, one at the spot leading to Kalkere where the leopard was found dead and two more will be erected on the road leading to NICE Road. They will be strategically placed ensuring that drivers do not miss them. The signage designs are being prepared by the Centre for Environment Education, Karnataka, said the Bannerghatta National Park director Sunil Panwar.

Alongside the boards, the traffic police will introduce speed breakers on vulnerable stretches, to maintain speed limit. This will allow slowing vehicles to see the crossing animals on the road. This has become even more important because the Bannerghatta Road is all set to be widened, which means more space, more traffic, more speed and more danger to animals, he added.

Two sign boards are already erected on NICE Road between Kanakapura Road and Bannerghatta Road intersections that read - “Caution, Leopard Crossing. Drive Carefully.” These boards were set up by the Forest department officials of Bannerghatta, near the Purvankara Apartments three years ago, after a leopard was run over on the infrastructure corridor and after repeated leopard sightings on the stretch. The Bannerghatta Road is a vulnerable stretch as it is close to the national park, home to an array of wild animals like leopards, sloth bears elephants and wild boars. There have been many cases in the past where speeding vehicles have collided with animals injuring or killing them. Every year there are many reports of elephants crossing the stretch.