A 24-hour transport strike has been called for September 9 in the north Malabar region of Kerala to protest Karnataka’s ban on vehicular traffic during nights on highways linking Bangalore and passing through Reserve Forest areas for ensuring safety of wildlife.
The strike commencing at 6 am would be enforced in sections of Mysore-Mananthwadi-Kalpetta, Mysore-Gundalpetta-Sulthan Batheri-Kozhikode, Mysore-Gudalur-Udagamandalam routes, an All-Party Action Committee meeting decided here yesterday.
The Karnataka’s ban on vehicular movement during night hours on the ground of ensuring safety of endangered spicies had badly hit Kerala’s north Malabar region which largely depended on these routes to reach Bangalore.
The strike call was part of efforts to draw attention of Karnataka and Central Governments to their problem, city Mayor M Bhaskaran, who chaired the meeting, said.
The meeting, attended by representatives all parties, including local MP M K Raghavan, resolved to launch other modes of mass protests and send an all-party delegation to New Delhi to pressurise Centre to take steps to withdraw the ban.
It also decided to seek Tamil Nadu’s support to lift the ban, ordered by the Karnataka High Court, on a PIL, recently.
