Sanctuary Asia – July 2019

WHOSE

RIGHT OF WAY?

Sanctuary |Conservation Action

Forests, wetlands, rivers, lakes, mangroves and shores are infrastructure in their own right, with major, but often

hidden, economic benefi ts. Identifying such vulnerable assets in advance, would enable project proponents to

incorporate mitigation measures that satisfy both, conservation and infrastructure goals.

“American roads are good

not because America is rich, but

America is rich because American roads

are good.” These words, attributed

to John F. Kennedy, take pride of

place on a wall in the offi ce of the

Union Minister of Road Transport

and Highways.

Transportation networks, which

move goods and people, are vital to the

growth of any economy, and India is

no exception. Successive governments

have consequently been speeding up

linear infrastructure projects as never

before, including roads, railways, power

lines and irrigation canals.

Roads in India are being built at

the rate of 21 km./day and the current

government has an ambitious target of

increasing this to 44 km./day. Railway

networks are being broad-gauged and

plans are on for new alignments and

bullet trains. Power lines, pipelines and

irrigation canals are also being pushed

through with haste. Some are proposed

through our Protected Areas (PAs),

but most will in any event slice wildlife

corridors and biodiversity-rich habitats

to form insurmountable barriers.

Linear infrastructure projects

require environment, forest and wildlife

clearances, a process meant to serve

as a safeguard for environmental

protection, which is largely diluted by

categorising the projects as being of

‘public importance’. These clearances

A wildlife biologist with the Wildlife Conservation Trust and a member of the IUCN

WCPA Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group Milind Pariwakam, and President

of the Wildlife Conservation Trust and member of the National Tiger Conservation

Authority Dr. Anish Andheria, believe that a well-planned policy framework could off er

a win-win solution for India’s wildlife corridors and the surface transportation sector.