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Kerala lobbying for opening up traffic on NH 212 despite court ban

In meeting tomorrow to discuss the reopening which is sub judice in supreme court, the two CMs could be walking on thin ice.

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Chief ministers of Karnataka and Kerala Siddaramaiah and Oommen Chandy will meet on October 3 in Bangalore to discuss about opening up of the night traffic on National Highway 212 between Sulthan Bathery in Kerala to Gundlupet, a distance of about 50 km.

The law departments of the states have briefed their chief ministers on the consequences of such an action as a court order restrains night traffic on the stretch and if they arrive at a decision to open night traffic on the stretch it could be a violation of court order and contempt of court.

Wildlife activists all over the state have expressed reservations against such a move and allege that the state transport lobbies and sand mafia have misled the political administrators. The highway stretch passes through Bandipur National Park and Tiger Reserve.

According to information available with dna, the Kerala chief minister initiated the talks through a letter sent to his Karnataka counterpart with two agendas for the meeting - night traffic on the national highway and the Nilambur-Nanjangud railway line.

Despite the matter being sub judice, the chief minister of Kerala, Chandy is attempting to persuade Karnataka to allow vehicular traffic from 9 pm to 6 am through national highway NH 212, passing through the Bandipur tiger reserve. The railway line connecting Nanjangud in Mysore with Nilambur via Sulthan Bathery in Kerala is also on the anvil at the projected meeting.

Chandy’s visit will be the Kerala CM’s fourth to Karnataka to discuss the night traffic issue, which was previously rejected by the Karnataka government in the interest of wildlife and forests.

The closure of vehicular traffic through the two highways passing through Bandipur was based on the order of the high court of Karnataka, dated March 9, 2010. The matter is currently pending hearing in the supreme court. The Karnataka government has already taken a stand for the closure of vehicular traffic at night on the two highways, based on the discussion held on June 30, 2010, under the chairmanship of the chief secretary, SV Ranganath, and has conveyed it to the  Supreme Court.

The government has also submitted to the court that solutions such as convoy systems are not feasible, as decided in the meeting where the transport minister of Kerala and other senior transport and forest officials were present.

Based on the high court’s orders, the Karnataka government has already released Rs48 crore for the upgradation of the alternative road passing via Hunsur-Gonikoppa-Kutta-Kartikulam, which is only 30km longer and to be used only during the night time. The upgradation of the alternative road is nearly completed.

Meanwhile, a petition has also been filed in the National Green Tribunal, Chennai (Application No. 156/2013), by the Kerala-based Nilgiris Wayanad National Highway and Railway Action Committee, demanding a railway line connecting Nanjangud to Nilambur, passing through the core areas of Bandipur Tiger Reserve. The application has also asked for lifting of the night closure.

However, the reports of the railways gives a different picture. A survey report conducted by the railway authorities and submitted to the Railway Board on May 24, 2013 says the proposed railway line requires Rs4,266.88 crore, with a negative Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of – 0.895%, which makes the project highly ineligible for commissioning.

The action committee had also approached the High Court of Kerala with the above demands. In response, in the affidavit submitted to the high court, the railway department has submitted that the railway line connecting Nanjangud in Karnataka with Nilambur in Kerala was economically not feasible.

While the after-effects of fragmenting wildlife habitats are glaringly obvious in the number of wildlife deaths on railway lines in Assam, West Bengal and Jharkhand, the new railway line proposal forebodes a similar fate for wildlife in Bandipur, the wildlife activists feel. A reconnaissance cum traffic survey report submitted to the Railway Board has given a negative report.

Political interests in Mysore, Chamarajanagar and Kodagu districts had taken a number of favours from the Kerala Congress party which was the ruling party in that state during the elections to Karnataka assembly earlier this year. Activists felt that Kerala wanted its share of flesh. The road transport lobby, sand mafia and railway lobby have been clamouring for opening night traffic through the national park and tiger reserve for their own gainful business purposes.

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