India’s first dedicated underpass for wildlife on NH-7/44: Attempt is good but…
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New Delhi, August 8: Soon after the images of India’s first dedicated and functional undercross for wildlife on NH7 (44) passing through Kanha-Pench Corridor flashed on social media, the snapshot of a spotted deer being hunted by a pack of wild dogs under the road took conservationists by surprise. It was an authentic proof that wild animals were finally using the underpasses created for them to cross roads safely.
A recent study by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), through around 450 photographs has monitored the movement of 15 animal species during 90 days including the tiger.
In 2016, the Roads Ministry sanctioned the construction of 25 leafy underpasses for wildlife movement as part of 10 national highways that pass through wildlife sanctuaries and forests. The National Highways Authority of India, following the Bombay High Court’s directives, constructed nine underpasses along NH-44, offering a safe passage for animals who no longer are expected to cross roads at risk to their lives. These cave-like, concrete underpasses are layered with natural soil so that they resemble the natural habitat of the animals. The underpasses are fitted with CCTV cameras to monitor the movement of animals.
In the past couple of months, more than ten tigers have been seen using these paths.
The Wildlife Conservation Trust, in its report presented last month, outlined some key points with regards to emerging policy solutions that would both safeguard the wildlife without compromising our infrastructural needs. The WII had raised the issue of not having the corridors spatially defined and lack of timely information on project in public domain.
The WII report states: “Through this comprehensive mapping exercise, we identified a minimum of 150 ‘legally explicit tiger corridors between PAs in the Central Indian and the Eastern Ghats landscape, and discovered that only 26 of these were actually identified and tagged by the state and central governments. We were able to obtain data on a staggering 1,699 linear infrastructure project proposals across 11 states, which were overlaid on corridor maps. 399 of these passed through tiger corridors that could negatively impact connectivity. The proponents of 345 of these proposals were clueless about the impact on wildlife corridors. In some instances, linear projects bisected corridors, where ecologically viable alternatives were not possible.”
However, could this be the ultimate solution for wildlife conservation is still a question. Many experts have raised concerns on whether it will be advisable to allow such road construction in all forest areas.
“The most reasonable thing to do is to leave protected areas on their own. But as the government has decided to go for such projects, the implementation agency must do things which are necessary for the survival and dispersal of wild animals. There should be corridors connecting the habitats. See, forests are not healthy when they are in islands, and animals need to travel between them. Therefore, we need better connectivity" - Parveen Kaswan, Indian Forest Service Officer
“It’s premature to declare these underpasses a success. Even if it is positive, it should not be an excuse to openly start building linear infrastructure in wildlife habitats,” adds Kaswan, who is not associated with the project.