kerala

Updated: Oct 04, 2019 17:11 IST

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi expressed his solidarity with the protesters who are on a fast against the night traffic ban along the Kozhikode-Bangalore National Highway-766 that passes through the Bandipur Tiger Reserve.

While pledging his support to those holding the strike, he tweeted, “I am in Wayanad to stand in solidarity with the youth who have been on hunger strike protesting against the travel ban on the national highway 766. Earlier I visited those who had to be hospitalized as a result of prolonged fast.”

12 youth leaders who have been on a hunger strike have been shifted to hospital. Several youth leaders from various political parties are on a hunger strike.

The movement of traffic through the forest was banned from 9 pm to 6 am in order to reduce disturbance to wildlife. An action council consisting of all political parties from Wayanad came together and launched an indefinite strike claiming that the night travel ban has affected their lives.

Kerala had protested vehemently in the Supreme Court, but the apex court had upheld the ban last month and asked authorities to develop an alternate route. People who oppose the move say that the alternate route will be a long detour and it will cripple the livelihood of the people living in the small towns along the route.

The length of NH 766 which connects Kerala and Karnataka is 272-km. Out of this 272 kms long route, 34.6 kms passes through two national parks, Bandipur and Wayanad. At least 24.4 kms of the highway passes through protected forest areas of Karnataka and 10.2 km of the highway passes through Kerala’s protected areas.

Following the Supreme Court verdict, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan proposed an elevated highway through the national park connecting Wayanad with Mysuru and Bengaluru but the union environment ministry turned down his proposal. Kerala said that the ban was affecting the locals of Wayanad, Kozhikode and Malappuram.

Vijayan had even taken up the issue with the environment ministry but could not elicit any response.

After the Supreme Court directive, Karnataka forest officials and the National Tiger Conservation Authority had identified an alternate route but the locals say that the alternate route will entail a 40 km detour which will affect sprawling townships like Sulthan Bathery.

Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi had faced the ire of green activists when he expressed his solidarity with the protesters last week. He had tweeted, “I stand in solidarity with the youth on an indefinite hunger strike since Sept 25 protesting against the daily 9-hour traffic ban on NH 766 that caused immense hardships to lakhs of people in Kerala and Karnataka.”

He had also urged the state and central government to safeguard the interests of the local community.

The night traffic ban which is now a decade-old issue was introduced by the Karnataka Forest Department in 2009 after coming across several hit-and-run cases resulting in the death of wild animals. When it was challenged the Karnataka High Court had upheld the verdict. After several rounds of legal battles, the Supreme Court upheld the Karnataka HC verdict and asked the authorities to develop an alternate route.