Wayanad bandh: Vehicles stranded at checkpost

Hundreds of vehicles were stranded near the Madduru checkpost in Gundlupet taluk of Chamarajanagar district, as the Forest department did not allow them to cross the border, due to the bandh by the traders and the public at Wayanad on Thursday morning.

The protest was against the night ban on vehicular traffic on the highway passing through the Bandipur forest. All vehicles bound for Kerala from Karnataka were stopped as a precautionary measure.

As a result, trucks, buses and other vehicles were stranded from the checkpost to Kaggalahundi village. However, the vehicles were allowed to ply after 3 pm, after it was confirmed that the situation had eased in Wayanad.

The bandh call given on Thursday, demanding to lift the night traffic ban, was total. In an effort to prevent the vehicles getting stuck midway in the forest, the authorities stopped them at the checkpost, Forest officials said.

Speaking to DH, Bandipur Tiger Reserve director T Balachandra said, “The vehicles were stopped at the border as a precautionary measure. If the vehicles get stranded inside the forest, it may pose threat to the people and the animals”.

The Supreme Court, which had refused to lift the night traffic ban, recently asked the Union government to come out with a permanent solution to prevent the movement of
vehicles on the highways through the core area of tiger reserves between Karnataka and Kerala.

This has not gone well with the people’s representatives and businessmen in Kerala, who have been demanding to lift the regulation on traffic.