NHAI gets nod to build e-way stretch through forest area
NHAI gets nod to build e-way stretch through forest area
Esha Roy, Indian Express
May 25, 2023
The standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) has given
a green signal for construction of the second phase of the four-lane
Bengaluru-Chennai expressway, the Centre’s ambitious 262-km project
estimated to cost more than Rs 16,000 crore.
Starting from Hoskote on Bengaluru’s outskirts, the greenfield expressway
will pass through Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, cutting travel
time between the two metro cities by nearly three hours from the present
five to six hours.
The NBWL’s nod has come for the 7.1-km stretch of the project passing
through the forests of Chittoor Forest Division and Rayala Elephant Reserve.
The expressway comes under Palamaner and Tekumanda reserve forests,
including the Chittoor division, which is a part of the eco-sensitive zone
(ESZ) of Koundinya Wildlife Sanctuary and Rayala Elephant Reserve under
National Highways Authority of India’s (NHAI) Bharatmala project. The NHAI
has proposed use of 61.73 hectares of forest land for construction of the
expressway.
In its meeting on April 25, the NBWL has kept certain conditions that NHAI,
the project proponent, has to maintain, it is learnt. Among these
stipulations is that the proposed area can only be utilised for the
expressway, and not for any commercial purpose; diversion work will be
executed under the Forest Department’s supervision; the areas of diversion
need to be demarcated by the agency before work begins; and the agency
cannot carry out excavation work in surrounding forest land for collection
of earth.
It said that a wildlife conservation plan for Rs 1,698 lakh will need to be
deposited by the agency as well as 2% of project cost for conservation of
the elephant habitat to tackle possible human-elephant conflicts.
The NBWL’s earlier meeting in December 2022 led to the formation of a
committee to examine the proposal. The committee recommended that an animal
passage plan for the four-lane expressway along the 7.1-km stretch through
the jungles of Chittoor Forest Division and Rayala Elephant Reserve should
be “considerably strengthened following the guidelines issued by Wildlife
Institute of India”. It also recommended construction of underpasses to
ensure free movement of elephants.
The NHAI had subsequently revised the length of clear passage for animals
to 3,090 metres.