A fine of ₹1 lakh was levied for the first time on a group of tourists and vehicle operators after they were caught on an illegal “night safari” in the Singara Forest Range in the buffer area of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) on Saturday night.
A team of forest staff, including Forest Range Officer S. Selvaraj, along with forest guards and anti-poaching watchers, were on a routine patrol inside the forests when they spotted a vehicle on Saturday.
The officials gave chase to the off-road vehicle, whose driver tried to speed away. After being chased for a few minutes, the driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a small ditch.
Three tourists injured
Three of the tourists inside the vehicle suffered minor injuries and were taken to a hospital in Masinagudi where they received first aid. All eight tourists and the driver were brought to the range office.
Mr. Selvaraj told The Hindu that a fine of ₹60,000 was imposed on the driver of the vehicle S. Lokesh (22) and the owner of the vehicle S. Eiriyan (23) from Masinagudi based on the instructions of the District Forest Officer (Nilgiris North Division) S. Kalanidhi.
The eight tourists, who were working in a private company in Hosur, had come to the Nilgiris on a vacation. They were identified as S. Dinesh (33), B. Ganesh (28), M. Saravanan (37), E. Sathish Rao (27), S. Subramanian (27), B. Deepak Singh (24), A. Sidharth (27) and K. Aravind.
The eight tourists were fined a cumulative amount of ₹40,000.
Officials said that this was the largest fine imposed on illegal vehicle operators in the Nilgiris North Division in recent history.
Forest officials also urged tourists not to undertake any illegal safaris in the core and buffer areas of the MTR; instead, they have been advised to visit the Theppakadu Reception Centre in the MTR where legal safaris are being run by the forest department.
