Stating that a complete ban on vehicular movement between Bannari and Punajnoor check-posts during night time would only affect the livelihood of the people, traders downed shutters at Talavadi on Thursday. Around 1,500 people gathered near the Bannari check-post and expressed their concern over the ban.
Hearing a PIL on February 8, Madras High Court Acting Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice D. Bharat Chakraborty directed the Forest Department to implement the Erode District Gazette Notification dated January 7, 2019, at 6 pm. Restricts the movement of vehicles. till 6 in the morning
Members of political parties, various organisations, traders, transport organizations staged street protests to attract the attention of the government. Speakers said that the notification when implemented in 2019 was a complete failure as it caused huge hardship to the vehicle users during day time and the people of both the states. Due to the ban, traders will not be able to transport vegetables from Talavadi and five districts of Karnataka to the markets of Erode, Mettupalayam and Coimbatore. He said that the students of hilly region would not be able to return home.
“A complete ban will in no way prevent accidents and instead alternative plans to protect wild animals should be studied which is the only long-term solution,” he said.
Traders in Talwadi closed their shops for the day in support of the protest in Banari and wanted the ban to be lifted. Over 200 shops, including vegetable markets, remained closed in the hilly region, while the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation operated buses to the hilly region as usual.
At the Punajanur check-post, members of the farmers and lorry owners association of Chamarajanagar district blocked the road demanding the withdrawal of the ban. They raised slogans and the police removed 15 people.
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