The Public Works Department (PWD) has dropped its project to upgrade a 10 km-stretch between Dammanakatte and Udburu of State Highway 17 D (Mysore -Mananthavadi road inside the Rajiv Gandhi National Park) as part of the Kship-I (Karnataka State Highway Improvement Project) following direction of the Project Monitoring Committee (PMC) constituted by the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court.
“We have dropped the project as per the recommendations of the PMC. That 10-km stretch (inside the national park) will be left as it is,"Kship Project Director Krishna Reddy told Deccan Herald. The development of an alternate route would be taken up under a different project. Principal Secretary to the department of Forest Ecology andEnvironment Meera Saksena who heads the PMC said the 10-km stretch was very important for wildlife. “There are hundreds of schedule 1 animals like tigers and bison in Nagarahole. The animals are getting killed due to heavy traffic on this stretch. Development of this stretch only means more traffic and, in turn, more killing of wild animals. Hence, the PMC asked the PWD to drop its plans. This stretch will be left as it is to discourage vehicle owners from taking this route," she explained.
The Mysore-Mananthavadi State Highway is similar to Gundlupet-Wayanad National Highway as far as damage and disturbance to wildlife are concerned. Countless animals are being crushed under speeding vehicles, mainly trucks, on this route. Therefore, environmentalists opposed the road development project tooth and nail.
Read the complete article by P.M. Raghunandan here.
