Chamarajanagara: The letter by Gundlupete MLA Niranjana Kumar to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to widen National Highway 766 connecting State to Kerala and Tamilnadu draws flak from environmentalists. The legislator’s letter written after Chennai High Court banned night vehicular movement at Bandipura Tiger Reserve has triggered anger of wildlife lovers.
The high court banned the vehicular traffic after increase in number of cases of wild animals dying in road accidents. Now, MLA has written letter to Prime Minister requesting to install road dividers and widen the road.
An environmentalist in condition of anonymity told reporters that demanding for road divider is really unscientific as it is environmentally sensitive area. Thousands of wild animals would be disturbed owing to sound of vehicles. The Forest Department does not allow to widen road in sanctuaries as it would cause speeding of vehicles. He said if the government is committed to protect biodiversity it should reject appeal of the MLA. He added installing road dividers would cause more number of accidents with wild animals.
