More at http://www.sanctuaryasia.com |Conservation Action
While the WCT policy framework
refers to Central India and the
Eastern Ghats, the principles
can be adapted and applied to
other critical landscapes, across
biogeographic zones.150 ‘legally explicit‘ tiger corridors
between PAs in the Central Indian and
Eastern Ghats landscape, and discovered
that only 26 of these were actually
identifi ed and tagged by the state and
central governments. We were able to
obtain data on a staggering 1,699 linear
infrastructure project proposals across 11
states, which were overlaid on corridor
maps. 399 of these passed through tiger
corridors that could/would negatively
impact connectivity. The proponents of
345 of these proposals were clueless
about the impact on wildlife corridors.
In some instances linear projects
bisected corridors, where ecologically
viable alternatives were not possible. A
north-south road, for instance, would
bisect an east-west corridor whether it
was moved to the right or left of the
proposed alignment. The only plausible
solution in such cases was to either not
build that road, or deploy functional,
scientifi cally-valid mitigation measures.
WORKING TOWARD POLICY
AND LANDSCAPE SCALE
SOLUTIONS
Realising the scale of the problem
and the potential of these landscape
maps to provide a win-win solution for
both conservation and development,
a report with large-scale maps was
sent out to statutory bodies, ministries
(environment, highways, canals,
powerlines and railways), Niti Aayog,
NTCA, State Forest Departments and
members of civil society. The detailed
report and associated maps are freely
available in the public domain at http://www.
connectivityconservationindia.org.
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.
Examples of expansion of linear infrastructure, without appropriate wildlife
clearance, which has severed corridors without any safeguards/mitigation
measures. The safeguards envisaged under Section 38.O.1.g and legal powers of
the NTCA and NBWL have been bypassed in the following examples. The latest
example is of the Satpura Melghat corridor where trees have been felled as
recently as April/May 2019 and well before adequate mitigation measures for
safe passage of wildlife have been incorporated.Project 2006 2016 Potential
(Initial proposed (Cost after Savings
cost) escalation due
to delay)
National Highway 7 98 173 75
(Maharashtra)
National Highway 7 430 730 300
(Madhya Pradesh)
National Highway 6 170 290 120Period Road Expanded Corridor Impacted
2015 National Highway 7 Kanha-Satpura
National Highway 7 Tadoba-Kawal
2009-2010 National Highway 6 Kanha-Nawegaon-Tadoba-
Indravati and Nagzira-Nawegaon
2006-2010 National Highway 6 Melghat-Bor
Nagpur Betul Highway Pench-Melghat
Nagpur Chhindwara Highway Pench-Satpura
Chandrapur-Gondia- Tadoba-Nawegaon and Kanha-Pench
Balaghat railway line
Chandrapur Mul Road Tadoba-Kawal
Nagbhid Brahmapuri Road Tadoba-NNTR
Nagpur Chhindwara Railway Pench-Satpura
2019 Betul Obeidullaganj Road Satpura MelghatPotential cost savings due to improved planning (Rs. in crores)It is notable that the collective budgets
of the 399 proposed projects examined in
the Central Indian and the Eastern Ghats
landscape totalled around Rs.1,30,000
crores. Incorporating ecologically-
meaningful mitigation measures at the
planning stage would reduce project
costs by hundreds of crores avoiding
inevitable cost-escalations caused by
legally justifi able litigation. Additionally,
connectivity for several endangered
species of wildlife could be safeguarded at
a landscape scale.
This last point is vital because failure to
protect wildlife corridors would amount to
‘islanding’ biodiverse-rich habitats, vital to
larger national interests, such as water and
food security and carbon sequestration, in
an era of galloping climate emergency.While the WCT policy framework
refers to Central India and the Eastern
Ghats, the principles can be adapted and
applied to other critical landscapes, across
biogeographic zones.
Scientists across the globe now
recognise that biodiversity and climate
change are conjoined twins. One
cannot be tempered, if the other is not
curbed. Wild species have evolved over
millions of years and have a much older
claim to their right of way over wildlife
corridors than the legal right of way,
often wrongly, claimed by the
infrastructure development agencies.
That is the reality that the infrastructure
developers must sit together with the
conservation fraternity to accept as a part
and parcel of national development. f