Kaziranga wildlife corridor construction hinders wildlife: Environmentalists have noted that construction is endangering wildlife along Kaziranga National Park’s Haldhibari wildlife corridor.
The Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) has established criteria that prohibit construction activity in wildlife corridors during the monsoon months of June through September.
On June 14, wildlife activist and RTI requester Rohit Choudhury brought to the attention of the union environment minister, Bhupender Yadav, a number of current road building projects on the corridor.
Additionally, he has written and sent pictures to a number of state and federal organisations that are involved in Assamese wildlife protection. More photos were sent in by Choudhury on June 17.
The proposal for the use of 20.4284 ha of forest land from the Kaziranga Tiger Reserve’s Core Zone and 364.9851 ha (8.6774 ha of forest land and 356.3077 ha of non-forest land) from the default eco-sensitive zone (within a 10-kilometer radius of the park) of the Kaziranga Tiger Reserve was discussed by the NBWL standing committee on February 22. The purpose of the proposal was to widen and improve the existing carriage way to a 4-lane configuration from Kaliabor to Numaligarh section.
The standing committee gave its approval to the proposal but stipulated that some requirements must be met. These include the following: the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) cannot build on the animal corridors between June and September, when floods are expected; flyover heights cannot be lower than nine metres at any point along their horizontal length, with the exception of where they will descend; no harm can be done to wild animals or their habitats.
“A lot of wild animals use these corridors and the NH37 during monsoon and floods.” The minutes of the NBWL make it quite evident that building cannot be done during the rainy season. Then, why is it being done? In the letter, Choudhury enquired.
HT has not heard anything from the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) regarding the building projects in the Haldhibari corridor.
“Lights are being removed and construction activities are being stopped,” Kaziranga National Park director Sonali Ghosh stated.
According to HT’s article on June 12, environmentalists are warning that wildlife movement is being disrupted by developmental activity being done in several designated wildlife corridors of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.
These include fender-barriers placed along the roadsides, concrete and metal posts along the roadsides for the purpose of attaching cable fence, and solar floodlights at various locations along NH 37 that cuts through the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong region in Assam.
