Liquor bottles, beer cans and plastic covers — totalling to nearly a tonne of waste — strewn in an area that houses the largest tiger population in the State.
According to Forest Department officials at Bandipur, the quantity of waste being collected from the national park is 700 kg to 1,000 kg a month, which also includes paper plates, aluminium foil, plastic water bottles, polythene covers, and waste paper. This is particularly bad in the stretch between the Bandipur border, near Melukamanahalli, in Karnataka and the Tamil Nadu border in Mudumalai.
The bulk of the waste is generated by tourists, travelling towards popular hotspots of Ooty and Masinagudi. Thousands of tourists travel on the highway every day through Bandipur National Park, and many dump waste within the eco-sensitive tiger reserve, which has 120 tigers according to the recent tiger census.
Some tourists, especially youngsters, consume alcohol along the highway and smash the liquor bottles on the ground leaving shards of glass there, a worker engaged in collecting waste told The Hindu .
Though the Forest Department recently launched a drive to maintain a garbage-free environment in Bandipur by hiring 10 workers to collect waste by the highway, there is still work to be done.
The workers collect waste thrice a week and it is handed over to the Gundlupet municipal authority for disposal.
‘TN authorities stricter’Environmentalists said the Forest Department of Karnataka was not as effective as its Tamil Nadu counterpart in monitoring tourists. At the check-post in Mudumalai, Tamil Nadu officials check the tourists, seize liquor bottles and issue strict warning against dumping waste in the forests. They even note down vehicle registration numbers. But, no such measures have been initiated in Karnataka. The State Forest Department has only installed warning and suggestion boards. “We are planning to impose fine on tourists dumping waste,” an official in Bandipur said.
Bandipur National Park harbours several thousands of animals, including tigers, elephants, bears, bison, and leopards. Sightings of tigers and other wild animals are frequently reported along the highway passing through Bandipur.
