Traffic disrupted for three hours near Maddur checkpost

The National Highway 766, which connects Kerala with the state, was blocked for nearly three hours, near Maddur checkpost, following a duel between the Forest department officials and the devotees of Inuru Marigudi temple, on Monday.

The rift broke out after the Forest personnel stopped a large number of devotees, who were on their way to the temple, which is located at Kalkere Forest Range, under Bandipur Tiger Reserve, to offer puja on the occasion of Ashada month.

When the officials stopped the devotees, nearly 300 people breached the barricades and staged a protest, which resulted in disruption of vehicular traffic.

The officials, including Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Anthony S Mariappa and K Parameshwar, and DySP S E Gangadharaswamy tried to convince the devotees in vain. The officials asked the devotees to visit the temple in groups of 25 people each, but they did not agree. Later, the officials allowed the devotees to the temple.

According to an official, last February, a forest fire, which broke out in the forest region, had killed a forest guard. “As a large number of people enter the forest area, animals will be disturbed and the chances of forest fire are high. Thus, we tried to convince them to enter the forest in small groups,” the Forest officials said.