Parking Banned on Highways in Forest, Jumbos Can Now Walk Freely

Elephants in Sathyamangalam and BRT Wildlife Sanctuary can finally move freely, with the forest department deciding to ban parking of vehicles on highways falling in the forest region between Suvarnavathi and Punjanur forest checkpost.

- K SHIVA KUMAR @Mysuru

The ban on movement of vehicles from Suvarnavathi reservoir to Punjanur checkpost will have no hurdles for wildlife movement for a 19km stretch on National Highway-948, connecting Coimbatore and Erode in Tamil Nadu.

Though the forest departments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have imposed a night traffic ban between Punjanur forest checkpost and Sathyamangalam in Tamil Nadu, following directions from court, heavy vehicles including trucks are parked for more than a kilometre near Punjanur, Suvarnavathi and Muneshwara Colony on the Chamarajanagar-Sathyamangalam national highway.