One of the major infrastructure development projects will soon feature five animal bridges in India, and we couldn’t be happier for our furry friends. By Amitha Ameen
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The Delhi-Mumbai expressway is all set to feature animal bridges for the first time in India, similar to the ones in the Netherlands. A total of five animal overpasses will be designed so as to not disturb the surrounding environment and wildlife sanctuaries that cover parts of the 1,200-kilometre-long stretch. The bridges will especially help the wildlife movement on Ranthambore Wildlife Corridor and Mukundra (Darrah) wildlife sanctuaries in Rajasthan.
These bridges will help vehicles and animals to avoid collision on the highway, and will allow both to harmoniously exist on the roads. Some of the other existing animal crossings on highways across the globe, include, Banff National Park, Collier, and Lee counties in Florida, Underpasses in southern California, Ecoducts, The Netherlands, Slaty Creek Wildlife Underpass, Calder Freeway, and Black Forest, Australia.
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The animal bridges in India will be built as part of a forest corridor so as to avoid conflict, and will allow safe passage to animals at every 500-metre interval. The project has been outsourced by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to an infrastructure major, and an agreement on the same will be signed soon.
As per a report by the Times of India, according to officials, these bridges will have a boundary wall of eight metres and will also feature noise barriers. The work on the project will begin in the next two months. Sources also suggest that, the NHAI wants to develop these bridges to project them as a sustainable development model.
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