Highlights 

• Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has proposed to the Karnataka government to lift the ban on night traffic through Bandipur ,seems to have overlooked key issues brought to light in reports by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and other agencies, including the local police.
• It was pointed to the fact that before the introduction of the ban on night traffic through Bandipur, there were 23 accident deaths in the core zone between 2004 and 2009 which  declined to seven between 2010 and 2017 and all of them were on the stretch from Maddur to Moolehole gate leading to Wayanad during the daytime.
• Kerala will approach the Supreme Court again seeking exemption for inter-State vehicles, especially buses of the Kerala State Transport Corporation, from the ban on night traffic on National Highway 766 passing through the Bandipur National Park in Karnataka.
• Kerala will also seek permission for allowing buses of the State transport undertaking and goods carriers to pass through the highway on convoy basis. 
•  A proposal of the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to Karnataka to overcome the ban on the highway from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. to reduce disturbance to wildlife at the national park was discussed.
• The ban on night traffic through Bandipur was imposed in 2009 to reduce roadkill and disturbance to wildlife. An alternative circuitous road was developed by Karnataka.

Source: The Hindu