Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll puts spotlight on 15-year-old night traffic ban in Karnataka’s Bandipur Tiger Reserve

Shivakumar suggested at a poll rally in Wayanad on November 9 that Priyanka Gandhi — the United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate from Wayanad for a Lok Sabha bypoll on November 13 — was keen to discuss the issue of the night traffic ban in Bandipur with Karnataka authorities. He added that the Congress government in Karnataka was willing to consider lifting the ban in the interest of people.

BJP Leaders Criticize Congress for Environmental Neglect

Several BJP leaders, including state BJP chief B Y Vijayendra, former CM D V Sadanananda Gowda, and current BJP MP from Mysore Yaduveer Wadiyar, have criticized the Congress’s stance. “The night travel ban on NH 766 through Bandipur is essential to protect our precious wildlife. Yet, it seems that the Karnataka government is prioritizing the Gandhi family’s requests over the state’s ecological well-being,” said Vijayendra on Tuesday.

A male deer at the Bandipur Tiger Reserve. (Photo: Bandipur Tiger Reserve/ X)

Since the inception of the night traffic ban in Bandipur in 2009, political parties in both Karnataka and Kerala have used the issue as a rallying point. In October 2019, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was in his first term as Wayanad MP, protested against the ban after the Supreme Court suggested a complete highway shutdown through the forest to protect wildlife.

In Karnataka, BJP MLA from Chamarajanagar, C S Niranjan Kumar, joined protests in 2019 and previously wrote to the BJP-led central government requesting the highway be widened through the national park.

Proposals for Highway Expansion and Alternatives

Ahead of the Supreme Court’s order on August 7, 2019, which upheld Karnataka’s night traffic ban, the BJP government at the Centre proposed widening the highway within the tiger reserve through the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in 2018, with Karnataka’s consent. The Kerala government also proposed an elevated road through the area. However, the central government later informed Parliament that the Congress-JDS coalition-led Karnataka government was unwilling to permit any construction in the tiger reserve.

“The Government of Karnataka has opposed any construction or opening of the road during night hours, which passes through the Bandipur Tiger Reserve,” the Ministry of Environment and Forest told Parliament in January 2019. To date, Karnataka has not officially altered its stance on the night traffic ban.

Supreme Court’s 2019 Order

The Supreme Court, in its interim order on August 7, 2019, on Kerala’s appeal against the night traffic ban, ruled decisively in favour of conservation. “We are of the view that what we are dealing with is nothing less than a core area of Bandipur National Park, which is one of the major tiger reserves in this country,” stated a two-judge bench. The court upheld the order issued by Karnataka’s Chamarajanagar district commissioner on June 3, 2009, restricting night traffic on a 24.7-km section of NH-212 (now NH-766) between Karnataka and Kerala within Bandipur National Park.

The Supreme Court order also supported a Karnataka High Court ruling from March 9, 2010, which reinstated the night traffic ban after Karnataka officials briefly backtracked on June 10, 2009, following protests from elected representatives and traders in Kerala’s Wayanad district.

Karnataka state officials, as well as the Wildlife and Project Tiger unit of the Karnataka Forest Department, provided data showing that, prior to the ban, as many as 30 vehicles passed through the tiger reserve between 8 pm and 6 am each night, endangering protected species. A joint inspection by administrative and forest deputy commissioners in December 2008 revealed that vehicles disturbed wildlife habitats every 0.41 seconds at night on average. The Bandipur Tiger Reserve officials estimate that animal deaths have dropped from 100 per year to approximately five to six since the night traffic ban.

Protests Over SC Order

The Supreme Court’s 2019 suggestion of a complete road shutdown spurred protests in both Kerala and Karnataka, with elected representatives across party lines expressing concerns in October 2019 about the impact on trade and daily travel. The highway, used for transporting essential goods and for regular transit between Karnataka and Kerala, is viewed as vital even if restricted to daytime use.

The latest conservation concern involves an aerial survey by the Kerala government for a proposed railway line from Wayanad to Karnataka that would traverse the Bandipur forest. In May 2023, Southern Railway sanctioned Rs 5.9 crore for a Final Location Survey (FLS).

Conservationists Warn Against Threats to Bandipur’s Ecosystem

“The very essence of Bandipur Tiger Reserve’s existence is at stake. Any relaxation of the night traffic ban and construction of a railway line through the reserve would irreversibly damage the fragile ecosystem, disrupt wildlife corridors, and escalate human-wildlife conflict. It threatens to undermine decades of conservation efforts and endanger the survival of critically endangered species,” reads an online petition calling for protection of the reserve.

Conservationist Joseph Hoover echoed these concerns, saying, “There is a raging debate about NH 766 being opened for night traffic and allowing vehicles to traverse the core area of the Bandipur Tiger Reserve. The Honourable Supreme Court of India has banned traffic between 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. because Bandipur is an inviolate area and critical habitat for the tiger. We would like people to realize that elephants, tigers, wild dogs, deer, reptiles, and nocturnal birds have been run over by speeding vehicles towards Wayanad, Calicut, Gundlupet.”

Supreme Court Awaits Status Report on Railway Survey

On October 17, the Supreme Court requested a status report from the Kerala government on the proposed railway line through Bandipur. “It is stated that the survey being undertaken by the Union of India/Railways is not complete and, hence, the status report in terms of the order dated 16.01.2024 has not been filed. Let the same be filed within six weeks,” the SC ordered, setting the case’s next hearing for December.