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Time to check vehicles speed at national parks

Last Updated 13 June 2020, 16:04 IST

With increasing road accidents and kills on national highways that passes through the Nagarhole and Bandipur tiger reserves, it is time for the Forest department to implement new initiatives to check speeding vehicles and impose strict fine on offenders.

Due to rash and negligent driving, not only wildlife, even humans are losing lives at protected areas. Several people, including forest personnel lost their lives in road accident. In recent accident that reported at Bandipur Tiger Reserve, on Friday, a Forest department personnel Rahamath was killed after he was hit by a ten-wheeler truck when he ventured out to switch on bore well pump set. Likewise, a driver attached to Jungle Lodges and Resorts, was fatally knocked down by a truck near Antharsanthe, Nagarhole tiger reserve, last week.

It has to be noted that hundreds of wild animals such as spotted deer, leopards, tigers, elephant, died due to road accidents. An elephant died in a road accident as it was hit by a speeding bus near Mathigodu Elephant Camp in Nagarahole in October 2018.

Conservator of Forests and Field Director Bandipur Tiger Reserve T Balachandra said, "The speed limit inside the national park is 40 kilometer per hour, but, still many drivers, particularly truck drivers, fail to abide by the rules."

Despite having speed breakers across the forest region, there is a need for more humps and the barricades to control vehicles speed. Every 500 metres has speed breakers, but the latest vehicles are more powerful and the speed takes off within a few distances. More speed breakers and barricades could help in cutting the speed, he pointed out.

The Forest department has provisions to impose fine for the violators, but it is not easy to check the violations. There are hardly a few CCTV cameras across the stretch. The cameras exist at entry and exit points. “The Forest department has provisions to impose penalty of up to Rs 25,000 for killing a spotted deer in road accident. But, it is highly difficult to identify the culprits. More number of CCTV cameras at vantage spots are helpful to identify the culprits,” said the officer.

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(Published 13 June 2020, 16:02 IST)

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