The night travel ban on the Kozhikode-Kollegal National Highway-766, which passes through the Bandipur Tiger Reserve, connecting Kerala and Karnataka, has been a bone of contention in the past decade. The Kerala Assembly unanimously passed a resolution recently calling for the Centre’s intervention for lifting the decade-old night traffic ban and to protect the freedom of movement of the people in Malabar. The road cuts through 19.7 km of the core zone of Bandipur and 4.5 km of its buffer zone. In Wayanad, it passes through 4.8 km of the core zone and 5.6 km of the buffer zone. Affidavit in SCThe Centre filed an affidavit in the apex court in May 2019 recommending continuation of the nine-hour traffic ban on this highway.

Source: The Hindu November 18, 2019 05:37 UTC