Tiger Crossing the highway ; Spotted by Sujith Bhakthan, when he was on the way in a TNSTC Bus from Gudallur to Gundlupet.
Photos : Sujith Bhakthan
Mudumalai Tiger Reserve is about 240 Km from Bangalore, about 90 Km from Mysore, about 68 Km from Udhagamandalam (Ooty) and about 124 Km from Calicut by road. The reserve straddles the Ooty -Mysore interstate national highway, roughly midway between the two cities and thus could be approached with equal facility either way. From Ooty, another approach is through extremely steep ghat road via Kalhatti having 36 hair-pin bends on a narrow road, but with a truncated distance of approximately 40 Km. The nearest railway stations to Mudumalai are Mysore, about 100 Km and Udhagamandalam about 68 Km by Hill track. The nearest airports are Coimbatore (160 Km) , Bangalore (240 Km) and Calicut (124 km). The nearest town for medical facility, petrol bunks and with telephone networks is Gudalur (15 Km) and Masinagudi (7 Km). The nearest township from Karnataka is Gundalpet, about 32 Km from Mudumalai Tiger Reserve.
Considering the Danger involved in travelling on these roads at night and in the interest of public safety and the safety of wildlife, the Nilgiri District Administration has prohibited the driving of the motor vehicles on the above road from 10.00 pm to 6.00am, for the vehicular traffic.
Likewise considering the safety of wildlife during night hours the Government of Karnataka have restricted the night traffic on Gundalpet to Ooty road passing through Bandipur Tiger Reserve (NH 212) from 9.00 pm to 6.00 am.
The visitors are advised to plan their journey accordingly.
