The UN’s World Wildlife Day — on March 3 — could not have got off on a more poignant note with a road kill being reported from Bandipur, on Saturday.
A barking deer, which tried to cross the highway to get to the adjoining waterhole, was run over by a speeding vehicle. The authorities suspect this to have happened late on Friday.
The incident has triggered an alarm as the waterhole — located close to the highway and is the only source of water for wildlife in the vicinity — is frequented by a large number of animals. This puts them at risk of being run over by speeding vehicles along the highway. Earlier in the week, a spotted deer died under similar circumstances.
Ravikumar, Assistant Conservator of Forests, Bandipur, told The Hindu that surveillance cameras will be installed at critical points along the highway. To start with, they will be installed at Melkamanahalli Gate, Bandipur campus area and at the check post bordering Tamil Nadu. “This will give us a clue regarding vehicles as any collision with animal causes dents or damage (to the vehicle) and the CCTVs can help us keep track,” he added. A surveillance camera at Moolehole Gate – and which functions with solar power for 12 hours – will be upgraded to be functional for 24 hours, said Mr. Ravikumar.
In addition, barriers will be set up to curb the speed of vehicles along critical areas where animals tend to cross the highway in search of water holes. The issue is significant as NH 67 which links Gundlupet to Ooty has a stretch of 12.5 km cutting through the national park, while the Gundlupet-Kozhikode NH 766 (which was earlier numbered NH 212) has a 17.5 km stretch passing through the forests. The traffic density on both roads is high.
“Nearly 3,500 vehicles pass through Bandipur enroute Ooty per day during the weekends and a majority of the motorists ignore the speed limit and rip through the jungles,” said a wildlife activist from the region. There is a growing perception that the net gain of reducing road kills by introducing a ban on night traffic through Bandipur from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. – was gradually being neutralised owing to repeated road kills during day time.
A Forest Department official confided that as many as 10 to 12 such deaths are repeated every year but many go unnoticed. An elephant calf was crushed by a speeding truck a few years ago in Maddur while a leopard met with a grisly death last May in Moolehole.
