Bengaluru: Former forest minister and senior Congress leader, Mr B Ramanath Rai totally opposed the revoking of the night ban on vehicle movement as well as construction of flyovers and bridges inside the national park. He said, while he was forest minister, the Kerala CM came to Karnataka with a delegation and appealed to revoke the night ban but it was rejected lock, stock and barrel by him as well as the then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
It would endanger lives of several wild animals if the ban was revoked. At any cost, the Karnataka government should not succumb to pressure from quarter. "I came to know that the directive has come from an officer of the Union Ministry of Surface Transport and it has to be rejected by the Karnataka government without thinking twice,” he added.
"Highways through protected areas have a great impact on wildlife including fragmentation of habitats, genetic isolation of wildlife populations, and importantly mortality due to vehicular collisions. Hence in the interest of wildlife, forest conservation and sustainable development existing roads within protected areas have to be provided with alternative alignment and existing highways should be decommissioned. Do we destroy Taj Mahal or Belur and Halebeedu temples? Won't we find alternative routes to protect these historic monuments," asked Sanjay Gubbi, wildlife biologist.
