Infrastructure
Greenfield Wildlife Corridor: Six-Lane Raipur-Vishakhapatnam Highway To Have 27 Animal Passes
- Dedicated infrastructure for wildlife safety and preservation is integrated into many highway development projects across India.
- Raipur-Vishakhapatnam national highway corridor will be built with an aim to facilitate unhindered movement in the Udanti Wildlife Sanctuary area in Chhattisgarh.
Representational image of a Greenfield wildlife corridor by NHAI.
Factoring-in wildlife in planning infrastructure development, the six-lane greenfield Raipur-Vishakhapatnam national highway corridor will have a 2.8-km-long, six-lane tunnel equipped with 27 animal passes and 17 monkey canopies.
The aim is to allow unhindered movement in the Udanti Wildlife Sanctuary area.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the construction of three national highway projects for the Chhattisgarh section of the six-lane greenfield corridor on 7 July.
For example, the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor will have Asia’s largest wildlife elevated corridor (12 km) for unrestricted wildlife movement.
The foundation stone for the corridor was laid by the Prime Minister Modi in December 2021.
According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, a comprehensive list has been compiled listing similar projects that emphasise the development of dedicated infrastructure for wildlife along with the construction of national highways (NH) and expressways:
Haridwar-Dehradun section of NH-58 and NH-72: 731 m combined structure in Motichur corridor, two elephant underpasses at Lal Tappar and Teen Pani on NH-72 and NH-58
Ganeshpur-Dehradun NH-72A: Four underpasses, 11.6 km elevated corridor and a 360 m tunnel
Madhya Pradesh/Maharashtra-Seoni section of NH-7: 1,400 m elevated corridor, multiple underpasses and noise barriers
Madhya Pradesh/Maharashtra border to Mansar section of NH-7: Three animal underpasses, structures, minor bridges and culverts
Delhi-Vadodara Expressway in Rajasthan NH-148N 2.7 km elevated corridor, and animal underpasses
Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway (VME) Phase-II: Land bridge/animal overpass, dedicated animal crossings and vehicular underpasses
SPUR of VME: Land bridge/animal overpass, dedicated animal crossings, vehicular underpasses
Raipur-Vishakhpatnam: 2.79 km tunnel, 27 underpasses, monkey ladder in Chattisgarh; two tunnels (6.29 km), 14 underpasses, monkey ladder in Odisha; viaduct plus elephant underpasses in Andhra Pradesh.
Chenani-Nashri Tunnel: 8.98 km tunnel, 1.91 km approaches
Quazigund-Banihal Tunnel: 8.45 km tunnels, 6.90 km approaches
Ramban-Banihal: Six tunnels of 2.967 km length
Bangalore-Vijayawada: 3.75 km tunnel, 2.5 km viaducts, underpasses
Panvel-Indapur Section of NH-17 (old)/NH-66 (new): Four underpasses, 19 box culverts, monkey ladder
Gwalior-Shivpuri section of NH-3: Elevated corridor and 5.5 km underpass passing through a wildlife sanctuary
Gujarat-Madhya Pradesh border to Indore section of NH-59: Underpass, fencing for 9.04 km through wildlife sanctuary
Varanasi-Kolkata: Total 82 structures in Jharkhand elevated corridor, and underpass, viaduct, increased bridge lengths in Jharkhand region; tunnel, elevated corridor in Bihar region
Kaithalghat-Simla: Tunnel construction
Hapur-Garhmukteshwar Section of NH-24: Underpass, tunnel
Six-laning of Vadakkanchery-Thrissur section of NH-47: Increase the length of one major bridge tunnel by 1 km
Belgaum-Khanpur Section of NH-4A (Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary): Five underpasses, increased dimension of culverts and bridges, noise and light barriers
Gujarat-Madhya Pradesh border to Jalgaon section of NH-6: Underpass, monkey ladder, fencing, increased dimension of culverts and bridges, and noise barriers
Cuttack-Angul section of NH-42: Underpass, fencing, increased dimension of culverts and bridges
Panikuli-Rimuli section of NH-215: Six underpasses, fencing, increased dimension of culverts and bridges
Rimuli-Rajamunda section of NH-215: Two underpasses, fencing, increased dimension of culverts and bridges
Nagpur-Umred Bhiwapur: Elevated corridor
Bengaluru-Hasan to Mangalore NH-75: Two underpasses
Bengaluru-Mysore-Madikeri-Mangalore NH-275: Two underpasses, three overpasses (ecoduct)
Chitradugra-Hospet-Bijapur NH-50: Five underpasses
Tunikur to Shivamogga NH-206: Seven underpasses
Khammam to Mangalore NH-565: Increasing the dimension of box culvert
Rewa to Jabalpur section: Five underpasses
Itarsi-Betul: Five underpasses, elevated corridor and overpass/eco-duct
Gwalior-Shivpuri section: Nine underpasses and elevated corridor
Sanchore to Santalpur: One elevated corridor and 12 underpasses
Sawaimadhopur-Sheopur: Nine underpasses
Ambikapur-Bilaspur: Eight underpasses
Kawardha-Raipur new NH-30: Six underpasses
Delhi-Katra in Punjab: Increase the length of major bridge with longer span and viaduct
It has been the vision of Prime Minister Modi to minimise the impact of highway development on wildlife.
The development of such dedicated infrastructure for the safe passage of wildlife and their habitation, along with the development of national highways/expressways is a frequent feature of highway development in India.
