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Underlining that the “situation is alarming,” and to “save” the Nilgiris biosphere, the Madras High Court has ordered that entry of vehicles to tourist hotspots — Ooty and Kodaikanal — be regulated by issuing e-passes.
“The roads are carrying beyond their capacity. It can also be seen that all these routes are meddling/interfering with the elephant corridors and in view of traffic jams, vehicles are stranded on the roads cutting across forests, the animals are worst affected. It causes irreparable damage to the environment,” a bench of Justices N Sathish Kumar and D Bharatha Chakravarthy said in an order dated April 29. The order was made public Tuesday.
“…a whopping 20,011 vehicles are entering the Nilgiris every day, which includes 11,509 cars, 1,341 vans, 637 buses, 6,524 two-wheelers on an average during the peak season. It can be seen that the situation is alarming,” the bench noted.
On a pilot basis, the court directed the government to ensure that only vehicles with an e-pass enter. However, it noted that for the current year, such passes can be issued “without any restrictions”. However, vehicles of local residents, along with commercial vehicles carrying essential commodities and vehicles carrying agricultural products, will be exempted from this rule.
The e-pass system would generate data for a carrying capacity study that will be undertaken by the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, and Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.
“Such system can be developed and implemented with effect from 07.05.2024 and shall be in vogue on a pilot/ test basis up to 30.06.2024,” the court said in a directive to district collectors in Didigul and Nilgiris.
“…Needless to say that e-passes either have to be valid for one entry or if it is for multiple entries then, there must be a provision regarding multiple entries/trips for the same vehicles,” the court said.
The court also added that this year, due to extreme drought conditions, even providing adequate drinking water to the local residents had become a challenge, leading to an acute shortage.
The HC is also hearing pleas on solid waste disposal in the hill stations. With glass bottles being identified as a ubiquitous pollutant, the court had directed the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited to submit data on the buyback scheme it has for glass bottles in which alcohol is sold.
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