Wayanad: The Congress will engage top lawyers to appear in the case in the Supreme Court demanding to lift the night traffic ban on the Kozhikode-Kollegal national highway (NH 766).
Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi made this promise to an all-party delegation led by the Nilgiri-Wayanad Railway and National Highway Action Council at Sulthan Bathery on Wednesday.
He said he was familiar with the issue and added that he had raised it in Parliament earlier. "I know the problems faced by the people due to the ban," he said. Former chief minister Oommen Chandy, AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal and I.C. Balakrishnan MLA also were present during the meeting.
Mr Chandy told Mr Rahul about his efforts for lifting the ban and opined that the SC should be told that the proposed alternative road is also through the forest.
Mr Rahul also said that fly-overs in ecologically sensitive zones would ensure smooth passage of people without affecting the wildlife.
It may be recalled that Rahul Gandhi had assured the people during his election campaign that he would try to find a solution to the issue. The Supreme Court in a recent order had directed the Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change to file an affidavit on how to improve the alternative route in tune with the width and other features of NH 766 (formerly NH 22), hinting at a possible closure of the present NH.
