Coimbatore: Forest activists have demanded speed breakers on the Mettupalayam-Kotagiri road. Ooty can be reached through either the Mettupalayam-Coonoor Forest Road or the Kotagiri Forest Road.
Coimbatore: Forest activists have demanded speed breakers on the Mettupalayam-Kotagiri road. Ooty can be reached through either the Mettupalayam-Coonoor Forest Road or the Kotagiri Forest Road.
The destruction of elephant corridors between Mettupalayam and Coonoor and the widening of the highway has come as a shock to forest activists. Forest activists also blamed the high speed of motorists on the Kotagiri road for increasing wildlife deaths.
If a forest is inhabitated properly by elephants and other wildlife, it forest is considered healthy. Elephants move from one part of the forest to another, often using roads. It is difficult to enter Ooty without an e-pass, but Kotagiri road is easily used by motorists.
According to Abdul Hakeem, a wildlife activist and wildlife photographer, 5 to 10 animals per month, such as spotted deer, owls, sambar deer and monkeys die due to overspeedingwhere the speed limit is 30 kmph. He also accused that people are having fun taking selfies and videos in elephant crossing areas. He added that hundreds of vehicles are speeding on these roads every single day.
The forest is lush due to the monsoons and hence the elephants, leopards, Indian gaurs, deer, bears and wolves migrate from one place to another. From the first check post on the Kotagiri Road, notice boards and awareness boards have been put up on behalf of the Forest Department to encourage motorists to drive slowly as there is movement of elephants in the forest on both sides from the first bend of the hill. He says speed can be controlled if speed breakers are set up every few metres.
The destruction of elephant corridors between Mettupalayam and Coonoor and the widening of the highway has come as a shock to forest activists. Forest activists also blamed the high speed of motorists on the Kotagiri road for increasing wildlife deaths.
If a forest is inhabitated properly by elephants and other wildlife, it forest is considered healthy. Elephants move from one part of the forest to another, often using roads. It is difficult to enter Ooty without an e-pass, but Kotagiri road is easily used by motorists.
According to Abdul Hakeem, a wildlife activist and wildlife photographer, 5 to 10 animals per month, such as spotted deer, owls, sambar deer and monkeys die due to overspeedingwhere the speed limit is 30 kmph. He also accused that people are having fun taking selfies and videos in elephant crossing areas. He added that hundreds of vehicles are speeding on these roads every single day.
The forest is lush due to the monsoons and hence the elephants, leopards, Indian gaurs, deer, bears and wolves migrate from one place to another. From the first check post on the Kotagiri Road, notice boards and awareness boards have been put up on behalf of the Forest Department to encourage motorists to drive slowly as there is movement of elephants in the forest on both sides from the first bend of the hill. He says speed can be controlled if speed breakers are set up every few metres.