Fast-tracking Kaziranga corridor project

The Supreme Court’s push for early completion of the proposed elevated corridor through Kaziranga National Park has reinforced the importance of barrier-free migration of park animals on the landscape for sustaining long-term conservation initiatives. Expediting the work on the Detailed Project Report and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) sanctioning adequate funds for the project will be critical to compliance with the SC directive. The Assam government has apprised the apex court about the MoRTH marking the proposed 34-km-long elevated corridor as a priority project and the work on the Detailed Project Report progressing. The project already got approval from the Standing Committee of the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL). The NBWL has about 20 hectares of forest land from the core area of the national park for the alignment of the four-lane corridor. This implies that the project has no roadblock of environmental and forest clearance, and the onus lies on the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and the MoRTH to fast-track execution. The National Highway 715 passing through the National Park has been posing a barrier to the natural migration of park animals from grasslands to highlands on the Karbi hills that form part of the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong natural landscape. Migration of animals from grasslands to highlands for food and shelter increases during annual floods. As the number of vehicles moving along the highway has substantially increased, the incidents of vehicle hits have also risen alarmingly over the past years. The elevated corridor is a pragmatic response to the emerging problem. While facilitating free movement of rhinos and other park animals, the proposed corridor will also facilitate faster movement of vehicles through the park. Currently, movement of vehicles needs to be regulated through enforcement of speed limits to prevent incidents of wildlife-vehicle collision during flood season. An ecological impact assessment of the national highway on migrating wildlife carried out by the Wildlife Institute of India (Habib, B., Saxena, A., Bhanupriya, R., Jhala, Y. V., and Rajvanshi, A. (2020): Assessment of impacts of National Highway 715 (Earlier NH 37) on wildlife passing through Kaziranga Tiger Reserve, Assam) recorded 1176 roadkill during 2019. Reptiles accounted for 50% of the total roadkill, followed by birds with 35%, while small mammals accounted for 11% and large mammals 3.48%. This is really a worrying picture and puts a question mark on the long-term conservation of park species if vehicle-wildlife collision continues unabated. The study highlighted that “apart from the direct impacts of roads on wildlife, the indirect impacts, like noise and disturbances associated with them, impact significantly on the species that require an undisturbed or interior habitat.” The WII assessment is a crucial reminder for wildlife conservation stakeholders to prioritize mitigation measures to reduce wildlife-vehicle collision and ensure barrier-free migration of wildlife species of the national park before it is too late. Expeditious execution of the elevated corridor project will require the NHAI and MoRTH to give importance to the conservation of wildlife species of the national park instead of looking at it as a connectivity project. The mandate for project developers prioritizing this aspect will ensure that there is no undue delay in the construction of the elevated corridor, as has been witnessed in the ongoing construction of the Jorhat-Dibrugarh four-lane highway, which has been going on at a snail’s pace. While giving its approval, the NBWL imposed the condition that the latest technological means shall be adopted for completing the construction work within the fixed timeframe of two years so that minimum disturbance is caused to the wildlife. The DPR incorporating this aspect and MoRTH allocating adequate funds to facilitate the adoption of the latest technology will be crucial for timely execution. The government putting in place a strong monitoring mechanism and reviewing progress more frequently as compared to other highway projects will be essential to prevent inordinate delay. Lessons must be learnt from the uncertainty in the construction of the bridge connecting Majuli River Island with Jorhat after the work stalled after the contractor surrendered the work and expressed an inability to continue it. Allowing such a delay in the construction of the proposed corridor in Kaziranga will have serious consequences for wildlife species. The Central and the state governments keeping a strong watch will be vital for expeditious completion within the stipulated period. The NBWL has also stipulated that existing highway below the superstructure will have to be decommissioned once the elevated corridor is completed and commissioned. The government and business community need to undertake an assessment of the impact of the compliance of this condition and plan alternative arrangements so that there is no confusion over the likely impact of commissioning of the proposed corridor after it is constructed. The relentless efforts by the state government resulted in MoRTH giving top priority to the project. The role of the state government will also be crucial for the timely implementation of the elevated corridor project.