Madras HC refuses to withdraw order banning movement of vehicles in Tiger Reserve area

Former MLA PL Sundaram, a resident of Panampalli in Sathyamangalam, filed a petition against the ban.

By: PTI

Chennai | Updated: February 16, 2022 08:59 AM IST

3 min read

Madras High Court (File)

The first bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday categorically stated it would not direct the Erode district Collector to withdraw his notifications banning movement of motor vehicles on Bannari-Karapallam stretch of Coimbatore-Bengaluru national highway running through the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) during the night.

The bench of Chief Justice M N Bhandari and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy pointed out that it had not passed any order banning the vehicular movement on the stretch. It had only directed the Erode Collector to strictly implement his notifications issued in 2018 and 2019, which was not given effect to, following protest from the members of the public, then.

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While passing orders on a PIL petition from city-based advocate SP Chockalingam last week, the bench had directed the authorities concerned to strictly enforce from February 10, the notifications issued by the Erode Collector. It also slammed the officials of the government departments concerned for the lapses and inaction in implementing the notifications already issued by the Collector.

When the Collector enforced his orders last week, there were large scale protests from the public and the traders. There was piling up of vehicles on both sides and traffic congestion.

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Former MLA PL Sundaram, a resident of Panampalli in Sathyamangalam, filed a petition against the ban.

He contended essential commodities were not able to be ferried to the 144 villages located on the stretch while the students of these villages have to walk for 4 km to reach their schools. Without providing any alternative route, the ban should not be given effect to, he added.

To avoid accidents, speed breakers and rumblers might be placed at regular intervals and the speed of vehicles could be checked. He also contested the claim that a large number of wild animals were killed in accidents on the stretch. Quoting Forest department statistics, he told the judges that only 24 animals were killed in the past 10 years. Even it was not established that they were run over by motorised vehicles.