But for the empty liquor bottles and plastic covers thrown on the roadsides, drive to Anaikatti would be a pleasant one.
Abandoning liquor bottles and plastic carry bags also pose a threat to wildlife. Such incidents go up during holidays when more tourists take those roads.
It is worse when the bottles are broken for fun. K. Kalidasan, president of Osai, an NGO involved in Nature and wildlife conservation, said there is no record on animals injured by broken pieces of glass. “But, it is a menace that should be looked into,” he said.
On Sunday, volunteers of the organisation collected hundreds of empty liquor bottles from Thekkampatti (near Mettupalayam) where the government conducts the annual elephant rejuvenation camp. “Very close to the roads we can find many bottles even in the forests in the Nilgiris,” he observed. Injury caused by broken pieces of glass could make the animal suffer and lead to death too.
Recalling the recent shooting of a man-eater at The Nilgiris, he said the animal though young turned into a man-eater as it was injured on its leg by a snarl.
“The injury made it target on softer prey like cattle and at last a man,” he said. While injuries caused in a territorial conflict is unavoidable, injuries inflicted by humans could be avoided by not abandoning bottles in the forest.
Sadly, it is not just tourists. People living in tribal settlements in the forests, too, add to the problem.
Last week, forest personnel collected more than 100 liquor bottles at a check dam on the way to Sembukarai tribal hamlet.
A forest officer said that the road located at the Anaikatti Junction can be accessed only by people of Sembukarai and its neighbouring Thoomanur tribal settlement.
The officer said that only people from those hamlets could have abandoned the bottles there.
“Conserving forests is not possible without the involvement of people living in these settlements,” the officer said and involved a few people of those hamlets in the bottle clearing drive.
A forest official said that they are not able to check every vehicle for liquor bottles on the Anaikatti Road. He added that their anti-poaching watchers occasionally patrol on the road and also conduct cleaning drives to clear bottles and plastic wastes once in a couple of months.
Mr. Kalidasan said that increasing patrolling could put an end to drinking on the roadside.
“Heavy fines should be imposed on those found guilty,” he suggested. G. Joseph, a trader in Valparai, said that having garbage bins en route and in the town would avoid stray dumping of bottles and plastic carry bags.
