Rahul supporting Bandipur stir upsets environmentalists

The solidarity expressed by Congress top leader Rahul Gandhi with the stir against traffic restrictions along NH 766 passing through Bandipur tiger reserve has not gone down well with the environmentalists who feel that Rahul should not have take such a stand against environment concerns.

During his Lok Sabha election campaign at Wayanad in April, Rahul had mentioned about the Bandipur traffic issue. But he added that he was aware of the the conflict between development and environment. Many environmentalist had also submitted memorandums to him highlighting the need to impose traffic restrictions, at least on night, along the Bandipur highway to protest wildlife.

Wayanad Nature Protection Group president N Badusha said that instead of blindly supporting the stir against the traffic restrictions along Bandipur, the Congress president should have tried to understand the real issues and acted judiciously. The nine hour traffic restriction along the Bandipur highway was not causing any inconvenience to the common people of Wayanad or Mysore region, but only to vested interest lobbies. Hence the Congress president should have pressed for maintaining status quo, he said.

Environmentalist who had been backing the traffic restrictions along Bandipur were also alleged to be coming under threats in view of the ongoing stir which gained further momentum with Rahul Gandhi's visit to express solidarity.

Meanwhile, Anto George, a leader of the NH 766 Protection Action Committee, which is spearheading the present stir against the traffic restriction, said that wrong facts were presented before the Supreme Court to mislead, especially on the number of animals killed along the Bandipur highway. On this highway not even a single tiger has been met with an accident or killed in an accident, till date, he claimed.