Safari: Protest and counter protest at Bandipur

A protest and counter-protest against the government’s decision to permit safaris to resume in the forests created tense moments at Bandipur near here on Thursday.

While a group of farmers led by Honnur Prakash held a demonstration against the government’s decision to allow jungle safaris, another group comprising locals, including employees of home stays and resorts, also held a demonstration demanding permission for safaris.

Representatives of the demonstrators seeking permission for safaris said several locals employed in the resorts and homestays had not been paid their salaries for the last three months. Many others said local businesses, including roadside coconut sellers and tea shops, too, had suffered a dip in their earnings as tourists and other visitors had stopped visiting the forests.

The police, which had been deployed in large numbers, prevented a confrontation between the two groups by taking them into preventive custody.