No nod for new roads in wildlife protected areas
The Indian Express, Mon Nov 25 2013 Anubhati Vishnoi
New Delhi:
An
Environment Ministry panel has denied permission to state governments
to build new roads and widen existing ones in Wildlife Sanctuaries and
other Protected Areas, where animals continue to die in road accidents.
The
report of the panel, noting roads have “detrimental ecological effects
on both terrestrial and aquatic natural ecosystems”, emphasised that
roads and highways should bypass National Parks and Wildlife
Sanctuaries.
Instituted in June by the Jayanthi Natarajan-led
Ministry of Environment & Forests to frame a comprehensive
guideline for construction/ repair or roads passing through PAs and
design the best practices for such roads for wildlife conservation, the
sub-committee of the National Board of Wild Life (NBWL) has recommended
guidelines like avoiding new roads in National Parks and core Tiger
Habitats and maintaining and repairing existing roads without widening
them.
The same rules apply to Sanctuaries and Reserves but
culverts, and resurfacing of damaged road sections with stone chips,
can be considered for approval, the report states.
Method of
such road construction, such as blasting, borrow-pit digging and their
impact on wildlife should be a criteria for consideration. The same
guidelines apply to roads within 1 km of National Parks/ Core Critical
Tiger Reserves/ Wildlife Sanctuary, the report says.
The Committee said the Wildlife Institute of India should formulate detailed guidelines for roads through these areas.
The Committee has sought views of the state governments.
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