Meera Bhardwaj:
Karnataka becomes a prey for Wayanad MP’s politics on Bandipur Night Traffic ban issue. Till date, a night traffic ban on NH-766 is in place from 9 pm to 6 am to protect the rich wildlife in the country’s premier tiger reserve.
The night traffic ban was imposed more than a decade back in the 25-km-national highway-766 (previously NH-212) passing through Bandipur Tiger Reserve due to rampant wildlife fatalities in the night. And road kills have declined nearly six times since the imposition of the ban.
Now wildlife conservationists and activists are up in arms fearing a lifting of the ban and have organized a campaign “Save Bandipur Forest” on April 6th at 10.30 am at Primary Health Centre, Kaggala Hundi. Contact: +91 83101 93878 / 99001 05195 / 94823 42796.
They stress, “Bandipur is not just a highway but a critical habitat for countless species and we need to protect it from night traffic that had earlier caused rampant wildlife fatalities.”
In the aftermath of winning by-elections from Wayanad in 2024, Kerala, Priyanka Gandhi started putting pressure on the Congress led Karnataka government to lift the night traffic ban on a very busy highway that passes through Bandipur Tiger Reserve for more than 25 kilometers.
Priyanka Gandhi had in fact, made poll promises to the electorate of removing the night traffic ban to facilitate easy movement between the states of Kerala and Karnataka. Such a poll promise was made by a high-profile candidate despite Supreme Court favouring a continuation of the traffic ban in 2019 after the Committee of Secretaries recommended a status quo on ban.
Further, the ban was imposed after a five-year-long- research study documented in detail the wildlife fatalities on this highway. The road kills included – elephants, gaurs, tigers, deer, small mammals, reptiles and even bird species. The study also revealed that most of the fatalities had occurred between 9 pm and 6 am on this NH-766.
Despite an alternative road existing between Karnataka and Kerala from Hunsur-Gonikoppa-Kutta, time and again various politicians from Kerala and now Wayanad MP has brought pressure on Karnataka government to lift the night traffic ban. Also, Rs 75 crore was spent on upgradation of this alternative road to Kerala.
With Priyanka Gandhi, being the daughter of Rajiv Gandhi and the granddaughter of Indira Gandhi, a passionate environmentalist and wildlife lover who was responsible for bringing in Forest Conservation Act and Wildlife Protection Act, it is shocking to see this new Lok Sabha MP going against the forest and wildlife laws framed during the rule of her family.
Added to this, the deputy chief minister of Karnataka D K Shivkumar has promised her to re-visit this issue. “How can this issue be re-visited again and again when all the scientific data, central expert panel report, NTCA field report and court orders favour a ban in Bandipur Tiger Reserve for 12 hours and not nine hours that is prevailing now,” questions a wildlife activist.
Meanwhile, activists in Karnataka as also in Kerala have threatened to knock the doors of the Supreme Court again if the Bandipur Night Traffic Ban is lifted by the Siddaramaiah government.