NILGIRIS: Tourists, particularly those from Kerala, were severely affected following a 48 hour bandh across Gudalur constituency on Thursday, with political parties and traders' associations demanding that the tiger that killed two men at Lauriston in O-Valley be shot dead.
The bandh began at 6 am on Thursday and is scheduled to continue until 6 am on Saturday. Commercial establishments, hotels and bakeries remained closed, while autorickshaws and taxis stayed off the roads. With only a few pedestrians seen in Gudalur town, several Kerala-registered tourist vehicles were stuck in a serpentine queue while attempting to enter the town to reach Ooty. Gudalur police intervened and regulated the traffic.
A petrol bunk in the town also remained closed in support of the protest. The bandh affected school attendance, as many students who normally commute by autos and private vehicles were unable to reach their schools.
Tension prevailed after a few politicians stopped tourist vehicles at Gudalur, informed the occupants about the bandh and urged them to return to Kerala. Though police intervened and pacified the protesters, some politicians refused to comply with their instructions, resulting in a heated exchange between the police and the protesters.
Meanwhile, a 12-year-old girl travelling with her family from Malappuram district to Ooty through Gudalur was injured after miscreants allegedly hurled a stone at their car near Kozhipalam near Gudalulr Government Arts College. The stone shattered the car window and struck the girl on the head. The family subsequently decided to return to their native after informing the police.
Police sources said the girl's parents took her to the Devala Primary Health Centre, where she received first aid before leaving for their native.
DSP I Gopalakrishnan told TNIE that police were investigating the incident and efforts were under way to identify those involved. No other law and order issues were reported.
DMK MLA Dravid Mani urged the forest department to take immediate steps to eliminate the tiger that killed the two men. He also called for the deployment of a special task force to track and shoot the animal.
He said estate workers, whose main occupation in Gudalur is tea plucking, have stopped work, while private vehicles have also remained off the roads. School attendance has been affected as well.
R Ranjith, coordinator of O-Valley Makkal Iyakkam, told TNIE that the tiger population in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) and Gudalur area was high and called for a population survey, with the findings made public. He also suggested relocating excess tigers, claiming that more animals could be occupying the available habitat in MTR and Gudalur.
Meanwhile, efforts to capture the tiger continued for the seventh consecutive day on Thursday. Forest department teams, accompanied by two veterinarians, searched for the animal in Gudalur Malai, Theivamalai, Keviparai and Gandhinagar, using drones as part of efforts to tranquilise or shoot the tiger.
