A division bench imposed night ban on vehicular traffic through the national park to prevent roadkill.
The night ban on vehicular movement through the Bandipur National Park will continue.
A division bench of the high court of Karnataka on Tuesday quashed a June 9, 2009, order by the Chamarajanagar district commissioner, withdrawing the night ban on vehicular traffic on national highway 212 between Bandipur and Sulthan Bathery in Kerala’s Wayanad district.
The court had on July 27 last year stayed the commissioner’s order. Incidentally, the commissioner had ordered the ban on June 3, before lifting it almost a week later.
The bench, comprising justices V Gopala Gowda and BS Patil, retained the night traffic ban based on public interest litigations by nature lover Anup BS and Bathery-based Wayanad Prakrithi Samrakshana Samithi.
While reinstating the ban, the court also directed the state government to repair alternative routes to the highway within six months. The court noted the deplorable condition of alternative routes.
The court further directed the principal secretary of the public works department to file an affidavit within a week on the action plan for repairing the alternative roads. Meanwhile, the National Highway Authority of India should enforce the night ban effectively, the bench ordered.
The district commissioner and the deputy conservator of forests (DCF) had on December 2008 found that 44 vehicles passed through the forest road in 30 minutes, which translated to one vehicle in 0.41 minutes. Such heavy traffic had, on several occasions, led to the death of wild animals.
Challenging the government’s proposal to extend national highways 201 and 67, the petitioners argued that it was in violation of the national wildlife plan 2002-2016, which prohibited night-time vehicular traffic through eco-sensitive areas such as Bandipur.
The state government had on February 17 this year made a 20-minute PowerPoint presentation before the high court, highlighting the fragile nature of the ecosystem in Bandipur. The presentation, made by Sanjay Gubbi, wildlife board member, and BJ Hosmatt, chief conservator of forests, focused on how the night ban could protect wildlife.
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