HC dismisses KSRTC plea to allow night buses through Bandipur

The High Court on Monday dismissed the petition filed by the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), seeking permission to ply vehicles inside  Bandipur forest during night.

The High Court had banned the vehicular movements in 2009 on two roads bisecting the Bandipur forest in Chamarajanagar district. Challenging the same, KSRTC had again moved the court.

The court, in a later order, had allowed a limited number of KSRTC buses to ply. With the increase in demand for more buses, the KSRTC had appealed to the court to allow more buses to pass through the forest. Justice B S Patil, hearing the objections filed by the Deputy Commissioner of Chamarajanagar, rejected the plea of KSRTC and dismissed the petition. Traffic through the forest was banned during the night in 2009 as the DC complained about the death of wild animals in the Bandipur forest, due to accidents caused by vehicular movement during night. The complete ban was withdrawn after the local MLA raised objections, saying that the restriction on vehicular traffic would affect inter-state trade.

After L Srinivasa Bana filed a PIL before the High Court stating that continuous stream of vehicles had led to death of several wild animals, a ban was imposed on movement of vehicles during night.