Bengaluru: Due to the pressure from the wildlife conservationist fraternity, the state Forest Department will soon stop the movement of private vehicles to Gopal Swamy Betta or GS Betta in Chamarajnagar.
The GS Betta forms the highest peak in Bandipur Tiger Reserve and is also visited by large numbers of devotees all along the year. The traffic on the hills, a 5 km single-lane road from the forest boundary till the hilltop temple, had more than doubled in the last few years, hence the foresters were contemplating banning all vehicles on the hill top.
The Bandipur Tiger Reserve officials have now purchased a fleet of five mini buses which will ferry the devotees to hilltop temple from the forest gate. A ticket of Rs 30 is taken from each person and devotees can take the same bus to return to the forest gate. The private vehicles will now be parked at the entry gate, thus minimizing the traffic in the tiger area.
“It’s an effort to decrease human footprints in the tiger reserve. Similar actions are planned for several forest temples which are frequented by large numbers of devotees. We are also requesting some of the temple trusts to relocate the temples outside the tiger reserve so that incidents of human-animal conflicts can be reduced,” says Mr H C Kantharaj, Director of Bandipur Tiger Reserve.
However the new restrictions are not free from controversy. The conservationists have objected to the new construction that is being taken up atop the sensitive hillock which is home to tigers and elephants. “The Department is building a toilet on top of the hill, which was unnecessary. This will ensure the devotees spend more time on the hill top instead of returning at the earliest. There is already a toilet complex existing at the entrance of the hill and that was sufficient,” rued a conservationist.
However the forest officials clarified that a small toilet unit is being built as the need was felt during the recent religious celebrations which drew larger crowd. “The buses have already arrived at the Tiger Reserve and soon they will ferry devotees from forest gate to temple,” said a forest
official.
