The National Highway 212 connecting Mysore in Karnataka and Kozhikode in Kerala has been dubbed the 'killer road' for the number of critically endangered wildlife falling prey to speeding vehicles.
The highway passes through the Bandipura National Park and the number of wild animals that has been mowed down by speeding vehicles in the last four years has gone up to 92.Scores of animals, including 20 spotted deer, two leopards, two tigers and half-a-dozen elephants have been killed by goods transport vehicles on the stretch of the NH 212 (which merges into NH 766 but is better known in its earlier avatar) passing through the Bandipura National Park.
An equal number of wildlife has been killed on the same stretch of the road that passes through the Waynad Wildlife Sanctuary on the Kerala side. Though wildlife conservationists have time and again urged the government to regulate traffic on the road, their appeals seem to have made no impact on the authorities concerned.
The attitude of the authorities concerned is appalling. The Karnataka State Highways Improvement Project (KSHIP), which maintains the road, did not construct speed humps, rumble strips and chicanes as per the forest department guidelines and Supreme Court order.
Road construction authorities give false promises that they will adhere to all conditions while taking permission for road construction or improvement within wildlife habitats. But these are rarely followed.
The National Wildlife Action Plan drafted under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister has also mandated that highways should be realigned outside wildlife habitats. But the road construction agencies give little interest towards this commitment made by the Prime Minister.
In 2009, the Karnataka High Court had directed the state government to ban the movement of vehicles between 8 pm and 6 am on all roads passing through the Bandipura National Park after the issue of wildlife deaths was brought to the notice of the judiciary by conservationists.
But for the last three years, the transport lobby in Kerala has been seeking an end to the ban.
Bandipur Tiger Reserve, which is part of the Bandipura National Park, is one of the most important tiger habitats in the world.
It holds about 80-85 tigers, and with the neighbouring Nagarahole Tiger Reserve hosting about 65 tigers, it forms one of the largest contiguous blocks of tiger habitats anywhere on the planet. It also hosts the highest density of Asian elephants anywhere in the world.
