COIMBATORE: In response to the long-standing demand of the wildlife activists, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has finalised the tender for setting up speed breakers on the Mettupalayam- Kotagiri road. The works will be completed in a month.
Activists have all along been demanding installation of speed breakers as the frequency of wild animals getting killed by speeding vehicles on Mettupalayam road had increased, but the forest department and NHAI did not respond.
On Tuesday, senior official of NHAI told The New Indian Express that they have finalised the tender for setting up seven speed breakers in a 2.5 km stretch between forest research college and Kotagiri hill road at a cost of Rs 21 lakh. The work will commence in two weeks and be completed within a month.
According to sources, Chital is the main prey of tigers and leopards in the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR). But these animals are often killed by speeding vehicles when they cross the road in search of water and fodder. On Tuesday morning, a spotted deer was hit by a vehicle near a clinic on Mettupalayam to Ooty road.
M Sirajdeen Coimbatore coordinator of Wildlife and Nature Conservation Trust (WNCT) told The New Indian Express, "A large number of wild animals are being killed in Mettupalayam-Kotagiri road. If a mother spotted deer is killed in such an accident, the fawn will be abandoned and it may be targeted by stray dogs."
Apart from spotted deer, bonnet macaques and reptiles are also killed in road accidents. Many of the reptile killings, such as snakes and lizards, are left unnoticed, he added. "Even though warning boards are installed, tourists' vehicles from Kotagiri are coming in speed and they lose control when the animal crosses the road and thus an accident happens," he added.