The Supreme Court directive to the governments concerned to constitute a committee to look into the ban on night traffic on National Highway 766 and NH 67 through the Bandipur Tiger Reserve has raised hope of some relaxation of the travel curbs.
Campaigners against the ban have been arguing that the 9 p.m.-to-6 a.m curbs had caused inconvenienced those travelling by road between Karnataka and Kerala, as they have to wait on the borders the whole night.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued the directive while considering special leave petitions filed by the Kerala government, the Nilgiri-Wayanad National Highway and Railway Action Council, and the Ooty Hotel Owners Association against the eight-year-old curbs.
Now the governments of the Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and the Secretaries of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will offer an alternative to the restrictions imposed on the highway.
M. Rasheed of the Nilgiri-Wayanad National Highway and Railway Action Council says the five-member committee, as directed by the Supreme Court, should hear all the stakeholders. The Supreme Court had observed that the issue should be sorted out without affecting wildlife and making it convenient to the people, he said. The action council had already put forth an organic bridge or underpass as an alternative.
June 2009 ban
The ban was imposed in June 2009 by the District Collector of Chamarajnagar to prevent killing of rare wildlife on the highway. But the Karnataka government withdrew the order. Following a public interest litigation filed by a lawyer, L. Srinivasa Rao, the Karnataka High Court stayed the decision of the government.
Later the Kerala government moved a petition before the Supreme Court. However, the apex court refused to lift the ban observing that the forests primarily belonged to animals and tribes and not to men who carve roads through it.
