Chandy comes calling but Siddu says no to night traffic through Bandipur.
Karnataka chief Minister S Siddaramaiah on Thursday turned down the suggestion of his Kerala counterpart Oomen Chandy to open the 50km stretch of National Highway 212 between Sultan Bathery to Gundlupet for night traffic. The two chief ministers met in Siddaramaiah’s chamber at Vidhana Soudha for a closed door meeting.
Siddaramaiah put across his concerns to Chandy about the dangers that night traffic will pose to the fragile wildlife in the Bandipur Tiger Reserve and National Park. He assured Chandy that an alternative road from Hunsur-Gonikoppa-Kutta-Kartikulam (Kerala), which is only 30km longer than one through the Bandipur Tiger Reserve, can be used during at night for road transport between the two states.
This was the fourth time that Karnataka has rejected the demands of Kerala for opening up the stretch for night traffic. Chief ministers of Kerala have visited the state thrice before during the tenures of BS Yeddyurappa, DV Sadananda Gowda and Jagadish Shettar, but each time the answer had been a firm ‘no’.
The opening of night traffic will lead to many illegal practices such as transportation of goods without paying toll and taxes, free transportation of sand which commands a very high price in Kerala, while the cost in Karnataka is just one-third of the cost prevailing in that state.
Yet, most of the time the contest has been on the platform of conservation of wildlife. According to statistics available with the state forest department, the road kills of animals is one of the highest in Bandipur Tiger Reserve, among prominent national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in South India.
The hectic lobbying has been initiated by 10 transport companies including the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation. Some of them have operations in Kalasipalyam and Gandhinagar in Bangalore, while many of them were from the Wyanad area.
An operator between Mysore and Wynad at Mandi Mohalla said on conditions of
anonymity that the Karnataka part of the road between Hunsur and Kartikulum was perennially in a “bad” condition. To travel 81km, buses and trucks take more than 3 hours, reducing the speed of the HTV traffic to just 28km per hour, which is a drain on transport companies.
The vehicles have to move in the third gear only, which decreases the effective mileage per litre.
Moreover, the vital systems of the vehicles like steering columns, axels, spring plates, shock absorbers and tyres take the brunt of the abuse due to these bad roads. The state highways division of the PWD, however, says the new road which is being built between the two towns is wider and has also been freshly asphalted. It is fit for a steady speed of 50km per hour.
Conservationists have hailed the decision of the chief minister. “The decision taken by the Karnataka government to stand by the court verdict is highly commendable. I congratulate the chief minister and all the officials who brought about the right facts to save tigers and other wildlife of Bandipur. We will now look forward for the Supreme Court’s hearing and further decisions,” said Sanjay Gubbi, Wildlife activist.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}