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Bandipur: Ministry ‘overlooks’ key issues
Why it is in news?
- The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) which has proposed to the State government to lift the ban on night traffic through Bandipur seems to have overlooked key issues brought to light in reports by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) .
- A report submitted to the NTCA pointed to the fact that before the introduction of the ban on night traffic through Bandipur there were 23 accident deaths in the core zone between 2004 and 2009.
- This declined to seven between 2010 and 2017 and all of them were on the stretch from Maddur to Moolehole gate leading to Wayanad during the daytime.
More on news
- The NTCA which is part of the committee constituted by the Supreme Court to look into the night traffic ban.
- It stated in its report that wild animals such as tigers, elephants, gaurs, and other animals had behaviourally adjusted to the restricted traffic at night time and this was beneficial to the long-term conservation of these species.
- But the MoRTH has not taken note of it.The claims that Kerala was dependent on Karnataka for vegetables and fruits was countered by pointing out that the APMC markets close at 5 p.m. andvehicles carrying perishable commodities had time till 9 p.m. to pass through Bandipur.
- It was also pointed out that elephant movement during daytime itself was high on NH 766 and causing disturbance during night would only aggravate conflict situations.
Bandipur National Park
Source
The Hindu