3 weeks ago
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An adept sheet of the Environment Ministry has recommended the assistance of situation clearance (EC) to a 235-km greenfield expressway connecting Varanasi and Kolkata, which requires the diversion of much than 103 hectares of reserved and protected wood onshore successful West Bengal.
A portion of the projected National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) project, which involves the operation of a four-to-six lane expressway and costs ₹9,250 crore, volition besides walk done a tiger landscape.
The details of the task were discussed astatine the 444th gathering of the adept panel, known arsenic the adept appraisal committee (EAC), which took spot betwixt April 23 and April 24.
The task volition tally done the districts of Purulia, Bankura, Pashchim Mednipur, Hoogli and Howrah, and volition necessitate cutting of 40,000 trees successful non-forest areas and 10,000 successful wood areas, according to the minutes of the meeting.
While the Jangal Mahal Elephant Corridor is located 7.75 km to the southbound of the project, “the elephant corridors are crossing the contiguous road alignment astatine antithetic location”.
Also, the survey country of the projected task hosts 17 Schedule-I taxon nether the Wildlife (Protection) Act, specified arsenic jackal, sambar deer, striped hyena, Indian fox, Indian elephant and leopard. To tackle wildlife movement, the NHAI has projected 20 elephant-cum-wildlife underpasses.
“The committee (EAC) was of the presumption that wildlife crossing structures shall beryllium strictly arsenic per recommendations of the DFO (divisional wood officer) including the recommendations for 300 metres span and nary underpass shall beryllium of the span lesser than that prescribed by the DFO,” according to the minutes of the meeting.
The EAC besides said that the wildlife underpasses person to beryllium 8 to 10 metres successful height.
