GURUGRAM: For the first time, the district wildlife department has recommended that the
Kherki Daula toll plaza be shifted to
Panchgaon, instead of the proposed Sehrawan, due to presence of a high density of wild animals in the surrounding areas.
In a comprehensive RTI response, the department said the area around the proposed site in Sehrawan is an important leopard corridor, with 15 leopards and nine other carnivore species, which are protected under
Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. This is the first time the district wildlife department has given data on the leopard population around Sehrawan.
“The site selected for toll plaza in Sehrawan has the
Aravalis on both sides of the road... The area has many wild animals including leopards, jackals, hyena, jungle cat, civet cat, pythons, monitor lizards and Indian hares. All these species are protected under Wildlife Protection Act, 1972… There are at least 15 leopards in the area… The department has already reported accidents of leopards in 2010 and 2014 on the road… The toll plaza should, therefore, be built in Panchgaon,” states the RTI response, written in Hindi, to Manesar resident Ram Avatar (a copy is with TOI).
It also says there are check dams and natural ponds close to the proposed site. “There is a check dam built by the forest department and two natural ponds, located very close to the proposed toll plaza,” the reply states. Vinod Kumar, conservator of forests (wildlife department), told TOI, “The toll plaza will separate 1,500 acre of rich habitat of leopard on the north from the existing leopard corridor. There is a need to have under- and over-passes for animals, or an elevated highway. Shifting it to Panchgaon is a better option.” Ram Avatar, who has been questioning the toll plaza relocation, said, “The proposed site is running right through a wildlife corridor used by several families of leopards, as well as other wild animals — civet cats, hyenas, jackals, nilgais, porcupines, monitor lizards, peacocks, etc.
I see this rich habitat every day and it’s disheartening to imagine this will be gone.”
The department also cited a survey of wild species in the Aravalis in five divisions of south Haryana — Gurugram, Faridabad, Mewat, Mahendargarh and Rewari — according to which, the area has 31 leopards, 166 jackals, 50 mongoose, three wolves, 26 jungle cats, four fox, 126 hyenas, two rhesus macaques and 61 civet cats. The survey covered 51 sites and trails and 126.68km of distance. TOI had earlier highlighted concerns of environmentalists in a report on January 8. The environmentalists had objected to the Gurugram administration’s decision to shift the toll plaza from Kherki Daula to Sehrawan, saying the anticipated rise in number of vehicles using the highway would adversely affect the wildlife of the area near Sehrawan.
Reportedly, the district administration is in the process of granting 65 acres, five kanals and 14 marlas of forest land in the Aravalis belonging to gram panchayats of three villages, Manesar, Kakrola and Sehrawan, to NHAI, to build the new toll plaza.
