Animal Underpasses have been built in NH44, Pench Tiger Reserve

 

Wildlife Institute has issued report of 9 animal underpasses constructed with investment of ₹225 crores. 

Animal Underpasses have been built in NH44, Pench Tiger Reserve. 

The longest national highway in India, NH44 (erstwhile, NH7) passes through Pench Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra. It has reported a lot of deaths of wild animals. But now new paths have been developed to help them avoid vehicle encounters. 

More than 5450 wild animals have been spotted using 6 underpasses which included 11 tigers, according to a Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun report. This highway underpass is the first animal crossing structure in India which was built around December 2019.  Some of the first species spotted using the structures are spotted deer, tigers, wild boars, jungle cat and hare. 

Bilal Habib, a tiger scientist who recommended mitigation measures, has added, “These structures are playing a vital role to improve the permeability of landscapes. These measures would definitely defragment the congested landscapes.” 

How it all started? 

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) issued a contract of ₹1170 crores to build a 117 kms long 4-lane highway from Seoni to Nagpur. Considering the court case and protest of animal activists threatening to stop the project, the NHAI added extra cost in the contract in 2015 to build the bridges and underpasses. Overall cost of the project was raised by ₹240 crores. NHAI also built the guide walls to protect the animals as well as up to 750 mtrs wide 9 underpasses at several places. 

There are several other underpasses in the pipeline in India. There are two minor bridges and two elephant passes in progress in Lumding, Assam on NH54. In addition, 3 elephant underpasses will also be built with vertical clearance of 6 meters in NH72 and NH58 from Haridwar to Dehradun. 

Total of 18 species have been found using underpasses - WWI Report: 

According to the camera trap survey conducted from March to December 2019, the report states that a total of 18 species of wild animals were found using such underpasses, excluding grey langur and rhesus macaque. Along with tigers and leopards, the wild boars, spotted tigers and wild dogs were also the animals spotted using these underpasses most frequently. Other animals which were using these underpasses were mongoose, wild cat, small Indian civet, common palm civet, rusty spotted cat, Indian hare and porcupine. 

A total of 89 crossings have been recorded by tigers under the structures till December 31, 2019. There were 11 tigers that used the underpass regularly. This 16.1 km long stretch intersects Pench - Navegaon - Nagzira tiger corridor and passes through forests of Pench Tiger Reserve. In addition, 9 wildlife mitigation structures were built as discussed in the joint report by WII-NTCA in May 2015. 

The initial results with monitoring on NH44 are really promising. The survey spotted 5381 animals of 18 species passing through these underpasses like wild boars, dholes, tigers, and wild cats. 

Overall, this is a great concept to save both wildlife and human lives. It can help easy and safe passage of both people and wildlife without any encounters. This wildlife passage has been built as a great step towards wildlife conservation.  

Many more national parks in India like Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Ranthambhor, etc  need similar initiatives. 

Source: #TigerSafariRanthambhor dated 2020-09-21. 

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