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India: National Highway 37 Along the Boundaries of Kaziranga National Park in Assam

Elephant herd crossing the National Highway 37 running through Kaziranga National Park in Assam, India. © Nilanga Jayasinghe/ WWF-US
Kaziranga National Park (KNP) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the flood plain of the Brahmaputra River in northeastern India. The park covers a total area of over 884 km2 and is part of the larger Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong Landscape. The park and surrounding areas are critical habitat for many threatened species, including Asian elephants, tigers, and the largest population of greater one- horned, or Indian rhinoceros in the world. However, the landscape is increasingly fragmented and animal-vehicle collisions are a common occurrence along a 60-kilometer stretch of National Highway 37 (NH 37) running along the river and cutting through the south flank of the park. Four major wildlife movement corridors are bisected by the road through which wildlife regularly move, especially during the monsoons when two-thirds of the park floods. As part of a plan approved in 2010, expansion of the road from two to four lanes has been a contentious issue that reached India’s National Green Tribunal on multiple occasions. Now, through cooperation of the Wildlife Institute of India, wildlife management authorities, and the State of Assam, multiple sections of the new road will be elevated on pylons for a combined length of over 35 km in an effort to maintain wildlife movement and decrease collisions. These anticipated “flyovers” will be the longest purpose-built wildlife mitigation measures ever built in the country (Hindustan Times, 2019).
References:
Hindustan Times (2019). ‘Longest flyover to protect wildlife at Kaziranga planned’. Hindustan Times. (Accessed: 28 November 2020).