Rahul Gandhi, Kerala CM Discuss Bandipur Traffic Ban, Flood Relief

The movement of traffic through a stretch of the highway passing through the reserve is banned from 9 pm to 6 am.

Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi (center) met Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan (right)

(Photo: Twitter/Congress)

Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi met Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday, 1 October, at Cochin House in New Delhi, reported news agency ANI.

They discussed the night traffic ban on the National Highway-766 and the implications of the alternative route proposed: an elevated highway through the Bandipur National Park connecting Wayanad in Kerala and Mysore in Karnataka.

They also reportedly discussed relief and rehabilitation efforts in the state following the devastation caused by floods and heavy rains in Kerala, earlier this year.

The movement of traffic through a stretch of the highway passing through the Bandipur tiger reserve is banned from 9 pm to 6 am, to prevent the disturbance of the national park’s wildlife.

On Sunday, Rahul had said that the nine-hour traffic ban on the National Highway has caused hardship to lakhs of people in Kerala, according to PTI.

He had also expressed solidarity with the youth on an indefinite hunger strike since 25 September in protest.

(With inputs from ANI and PTI)