With vehicle movement between Bannari and Hasanur check-posts to be banned completely during night hours from Thursday evening, political parties, various associations and the public, who planned to gather at Bannari on Thursday, wanted the Madras High Court to consider the livelihood of lakhs of people and also sought the intervention of the State government in the issue.
To prevent road kills of wild animals on the stretch of the Coimbatore – Bengaluru National Highway 948 that passes through the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR), the Madras High Court had on Tuesday asked the Forest Department to implement the Erode District Collector’s 2019 notification that bans movement of heavy commercial vehicles from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. and light commercial vehicles and four-wheelers transporting passengers from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. in the stretch.
Since the complete ban would affect the livelihood of people of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, particularly people of Sathyamangalam and Talavadi, traders, farmers, various organisations and political parties decided to gather near Bannari check-post to seek the attention of the State government.
One of the event coordinators said that the ban would cripple the life of people in Talavadi and other hamlets in the hill areas and wanted the court to consider all the facts, including the livelihood, before enforcing the ban.
He said that when the night ban was implemented in 2019, it led to total chaos and congestion on the ghat road during day time after which the enforcement was stopped. “In the name of protecting forests, lives of people should not be taken away”, he said and sought the intervention of the State government in the issue. Alternative plans to protect wild animals should be studied which is the only long term solution, he added.