Wayanad: DKS' poll promise on lifting Bandipur night traffic ban kicks up a row

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi’s candidature from Kerala’s Wayanad in the Lok Sabha bypoll seems to have put the wildlife of Karnataka in peril.

If Priyanka and her party leader DK Shivakumar, who is the Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, have their way, night traffic will soon be allowed on NH-766, which passes through the core zone of Karnataka’s Bandipur National Park and all the way up to Kozhikode via Wayanad in the neighbouring state, putting the lives of wild animals at risk.

However, even though they are a worried lot, wildlife lovers point out that the night traffic ban on the highway was clamped by a court order, sealed by the Supreme Court, and hence, this is merely political rhetoric and not much will come of it.

DKS’s poll promise

Shivakumar, while addressing a political rally for Priyanka in Wayanad’s Padinjarethara last weekend, said his government would do everything in its power to address the night traffic ban on NH-766.

Shivakumar said Priyanka had told him she would visit Karnataka to discuss the night travel ban issue soon. He added that since the ban was causing problems for thousands of people, including students studying in Karnataka, his government would try its best to do away with it.

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Apex court’s order

However, the Supreme Court in 2019 upheld an order passed by the Karnataka High Court in 2010 restoring the night traffic ban. In fact, the Supreme Court had asked the government to ensure that an alternative route matching the width and features of NH-766 be put in place so that the controversial highway that has led to many animal deaths be shut down altogether.

It had suggested the merger of State Highway 90 with NH-275 so that the new national highway acts as a viable alternative. However, that route increase the distance to certain parts of Karnataka by some 40 km. Nevertheless, the Karnataka government has already spent crores on strengthening the alternate route.

“Just a political statement”

“It is just another political statement. Nothing is going to change,” said a confident Joseph Hoover, former State Board of Wildlife member and founder of the United Conservation Movement and Charitable Trust.

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“In fact, the Supreme Court said the whole stretch is an inviolate area and wanted traffic banned 24 hours. The Karnataka government has agreed to the SC directive. We have lost elephants and tigers in road accidents. Even last year, an elephant was killed, and this happened in the evening. It’s a clear order by the Supreme Court, which no government can ignore. We are baffled by DKS’s statement,” Hoover told The Federal.

Repeated “threats” to Bandipur

This threat to Bandipur Tiger Reserve is not new. Similar threats have been keeping wildlife conservationists on their toes despite the apex court order.

In February, activists had launched the “Save Bandipur” online campaign to oppose two proposals — lifting this night traffic ban on NH-766 and a proposed railway line from Nilambur in Kerala to Nanjangud in Karnataka — both reportedly made by Kerala.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had also once expressed the intention to facilitate 24/7 traffic movement between Mysore and Wayanad.