The project has a total length of over 50 kilometers and was planned to reduce the pressure and volume of the traffic on another route via Malout which connects Abohar with Dabwali. (Representational image)Underpasses for wild animals, cattle guards in accident-prone areas and eco-friendly fencing are among several measures being put in place for wildlife protection and preservation as government takes up widening and upgradation of a road passing through Shri Guru Jambeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary in Punjab’s Abohar.
The unique sanctuary — owned entirely by private individuals or panchayats — is natural habitat of the endangered blackbucks, the state animal of Punjab, and other wildlife.
A meeting of the standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL), chaired by Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar, which took up different proposals from various states last month gave its nod for the proposed road project in Punjab connecting Abohar with Dabwali via Sito Guno.
The project has a total length of over 50 kilometers and was planned to reduce the pressure and volume of the traffic on another route via Malout which connects Abohar with Dabwali. While about 17 kilometers of the proposed road will pass through the sanctuary, the rest of it will fall in another territorial division, also a protected forest. The road is proposed to be widened to 10 meters from the existing 5.5 meters.
The NBWL standing committee recommended the proposal subject to project proponent ensuring compliance of all conditions imposed by the state chief wildlife warden and modifying the road design in line with Wildlife Institute of India (WII) guidelines.
The NBWL recommendation for the project is also subject to human-wildlife mitigation plan providing for manual patrolling of the stretch to be prepared and implemented by the Punjab forest department.
A technical survey, conducted by an expert committee led by WII director Dr V B Mathur, in March and April this year observed that due to the widening of the proposed road, the habitat will be degraded on the verges of the road and will become more fragmented. It also found that the roads will divide animal populations into more or less isolated sub-populations and the connectivity among the habitats and populations of wild animals will be lost, The road, it found, will act as a barrier and can prevent movement of wild animals. The mortality, it said, will be increase if appropriate mitigatory measures were not taken even though the proposed fencing along the road throughout the sanctuary will hinder the movement of the blackbuck and other wild animals.
Taking into account factors like animal-vehicle collision data for the last six years, accident-prone zones and other parameters, the expert committee suggested underpasses at three places. It also suggested fence-free areas near such underpasses. It noted that farmers who had put up barbed fences to check the entry of stray cattle in their fields had agreed to remove them at entry and exit points of underpasses.
The expert committee also proposed four animal crossing points with speed breakers on the road stretch passing through the sanctuary. Currently, almost the entire road stretch is fenced with farmers using barbed wire, cobra wire, chain-linked fence or mud wall to restrict the entry of cattle. The committee suggested use of cattle guards at proposed animal crossing points. It noted that the arrangement would allow blackbuck to cross the road by jumping the cattle guard, whereas it would be impermeable for the feral cattle.
The committee also recommended use of wildlife friendly fences, gaushalas for feral bullocks, taking measures to control stray dog population and a rescue and rehabilitation center for wild animals.
