[somersault]

Originally Posted by ajmat

If Mahindra Adventure or a related entity sold the experience to the participants, then I guess the Mahindra are responsible.

A bit like if a Toyota Glanza engine failed, would Toyota own this problem or whash their hands off and blame Maruti!

I beg to differ. Mahindra cannot wash away their responsibility here. Legally they might find a loophole. But accepting the mistake and taking corrective action by the top most position is the best way forward.

People came to the event because it was a Mahindra Adventure. Mahindra can do subcontracting to anyone. But the primary responsibility is still Mahindra Adventure. They advertised it that way (appears from the image).

In this case, may be CEAT can wash away their hand. Being a monetary sponsor to the event is different and using the brand to call for participation to the event. These are 2 different things. Now a days even Shahrukh and Akshay Kumar are pulled to courts for advertising gutkha products, as they use their brands to market them. Even though they do not own the marketing event or the product. Even the CM of a state is facing a defamation suite for retweeting a video, as he has a large fan following on his twitter handle.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by BhayanaV

Event Mgmt companies are too small to negotiate with likes of Mahindra, generally they agree to the terms without much negotiations. The event manager for this drive would be held responsible most probably.

As a very small vendor, I have signed such contracts with large companies. I always go line-by-line to check such indemnity clauses to ensure I am not being screwed. With smaller customers, it is usually possible to alter the clauses and ensure liability to correctly applied.

However, large companies don't give an inch unless they really badly need your service and there is no alternative. I have dealt with customers who simply say sign it as is or lose the contract. They usually have a legal department who don't care whether we sign or not, they want maximum protection for their company from any liabilities.

[GeeTee TSI]

Absolutely love the quantum of fine imposed (1L per vehicle) what with ridiculously low fines mandated by our antiquated laws. Fines should pinch (and how!) and act as a deterrent. I feel bad for the unsuspecting family crowd who signed up, while conceding in the same breath, that some tourists care two hoots for rules.

[iceman.]

Lot of people take forest dept. lightly.

People don't realise they have powers beyond police - no need for judicial oversight or getting warrants from a Magistrate / Court etc. They can make arrests without a warrant.

[ringsoftime]

I have some questions here.

How did this happen? Wouldn't there be checkposts, where you be informed of the closure and will have to turn back? Did they use an illegitimate route to bypass and get into it? I haven't been to the said Forest, so I don't know how the access is controlled.

How would someone make sure that the organisers have the necessary permits and passes covered, when we decide to take part in these type of activities? I think the participants trusted Mahindra adventures too much. Can they sue the organisers and get a refund for the fine, if they were informed that the papers were in order?

[Buzzard_storme]

It's a shame what we are left with and with the numerous petrol/diesel guzzling vehicles, it's easy to just go anywhere that were pretty much off anyone's grid probably a decade or two ago! As someone posted earlier, I also second that it's everyone's responsibility towards conservation and to think before executing a plan or signing up for any event of such nature (I would be surprised if none of participants asked if it was legal to enter Ranthambore National Park for events like this).

This incident has caught the attention of people mostly because it was well promoted, had a big corporate entity related to it and was on social media! Wonder how many other small groups escape under the lens, day in and out!

We need to remind ourselves that the forest (includes various ecosystems like lakes, rivers, forests, grasslands, deserts, sea coasts) cover is rapidly declining in India and is becoming a cause of concern. On the other hand, the spending income in India is growing and more number of vehicles are sold year after year and people look for places to go and often unexplored, restricted or off-trail seems to be sensuosly attracting!

Anyone to blame here - None and all!

[TorquePull]

So the officer who allowed this event to happen gets away with the bribe money and no consequences?

If the car owners are penalised for doing something wrong, the officer involved should also be punished for letting this event happen.

[Nano45]

Originally Posted by ajmat

It seems a couple of Forestry Officials colluded with Mahindra Adventures to allow this event. The cars were impounded with a Rs 1 lakh fine each and organisers cars were seized.

More here.

You can view the Twitter feed here

Apparently, the original poster of the twitter feed has been receiving relentless requests to remove this post.

Originally Posted by TorquePull

So the officer who allowed this event to happen gets away with the bribe money and no consequences?

If the car owners are penalised for doing something wrong, the officer involved should also be punished for letting this event happen.

According to the news article, both the forest ranger and gaurd were suspended after the incident.

For more information, refer to the link Ajmat shared.

[careind]

This seems to be a coverup at different levels and raises a lot of questions.

Mostly for such advertised events, there is a registration and filtration process involved. Many regular joes would be applying and the lucky regular joes are given a token and a time and told to assemble at a point. From there, they are lead into a trail.

This was organised under a big company banner and nobody would have any reasons to doubt the authenticity. How come a convoy of 14 SUVs entered undetected, that too into a reserved area, is a question of its own.

The convoy would have progressed unimpeded, and after a day’s excitement they would have gone to their hotels and uploaded their feeds and wham! Hit with 1L fines.

Whoever arranged this would have had to share the plan with the forest department with enough time to make arrangements as this is a public event which was well publicised.

Trails are also chosen in such a way that they know what is in store for them. They just don’t pick a trail out of the hat and say, “hey why don’t we get these random good folks try this trail”, because they would also need to manage the show with controls in place.

From the videos, It seems there were kids and pets as well. So definitely not a fly-by-night operation planned to infringe into a reserved area just out of excitement.

As is always the case , the big company would wash off its hand as its exposure is limited only to the local partner. I would read it as some poor over zealous off roaders had to pay 1L fine for no fault of theirs other than playing follow the leader.

All in all, this story definitely has a slight stink to it.

[mack.mehul]

These offroad excursions should seriously be regulated. This is a big violation of the laws meant to protect our forests. I am pretty sure the persons who organized this excursion being helped by forest officials, who treat the forests as their personal fiefdom.

[Mystic]

What a bad timing for this unfortunate incident to happen during the ROXX release.

Sometimes I wonder what is the craving the humans get trying to hunt animals as a sport and to use 4X4 jeeps to destroy reserve forests and feel like heroes. I think the root cause as per my grand father is :

“There has been no qualitative change in man's thinking; we feel about our neighbours just as the frightened caveman felt towards his. The only thing that has changed is our ability to destroy our neighbor and his property.”- UG

I own a 4X4 vehicle myself and this important functionality allows me to come out of difficult situations in my routine drives in the rural areas or elsewhere. It is like having a licensed revolver, you use to defend oneself when the need comes and not try to test it frequently even when the need is not there for pleasure.

I think this incident teaches a lesson to the those involved and also to those new adventurers who are increasing by 10000 every month because we can afford to buy 4X4 hardware in our car and there are companies who are mass producing such vehicles.

I still remember by childhood days 6 decades back when we use to travel in Willys Jeep as my father was working for the govt and had to travel through reserved forests with no roads to lay new roads. The 4X4 functionality comes handy in such circumstances but it is made to become a fashionable or a cool thing to youngsters these days.

[harikrishnansp]

Originally Posted by thebateman

Interesting. I like how the news article mention these Thars & Scorpios as "Luxury vehicles".

Marketing is certainly strong here.

[jaganm]

Originally Posted by lazy

Warning - unpopular opinion.

Leisure offroading is an extravagant / epicurean activity - burning fuel, causing pollution, generating waste - all for zero productive outcome.

Sooner than later, participants get bored of usual destinations and seek exotic locales - sanctuaries, river beaches, restricted forests - and hurting nature also gets added to the list.

cheers
lazy

I had this uneasy feeling about my ride to Ladakh. Yes, I really enjoyed the challenge and yes, we mainly rode on roads that were either tarred or were in the process of being tarred. Except for the stretch from Umlingla to Hanle where we rode via Nurburla which is completely off-road plains, there is a well established path there and hundreds of vehicles take it during the season.

There were probably a few thousand bikes that we saw besides our group during the two week ride. Like me, I am sure that most of them had one of the most memorable experiences of their life, having company of many different people who became good friends. Yet, there was a distinct lack of connection to the land and its people. They were just a way to get resource (tea stop, homestay), whereas for the locals, the riders were a way to extract money that keeps them going for the rest of the year.

Everyone was happy and went back with tales to tell. And yet, I cannot shake the feeling that something was off about the entire trip and what it has become.

[airguitar]

Originally Posted by lazy

Warning - unpopular opinion.

Leisure offroading is an extravagant / epicurean activity - burning fuel, causing pollution, generating waste - all for zero productive outcome.

Sooner than later, participants get bored of usual destinations and seek exotic locales - sanctuaries, river beaches, restricted forests - and hurting nature also gets added to the list.

Beautifully worded . But after reading it a couple of times, I realize that it is the same for any leisure travel and tourism - burning fuel. pollution. generating waste. zero productive outcome is false (for both aam junta travelers and offroaders) : it benefits the travelers (peace of mind, learning etc) and the businesses (income). Offroading and tourism have the same rules : no trespassing. The penalty is the same. There are irresponsible offroaders and irresponsible tourists, irresponsible trekkers and everything - picking on offroaders seems to just create an us vs them narrative when all irresponsible vacationers are equally culpable.