Maharashtra: Who cares about wildlife in fast lane?

A Nilgai crossing the highway along the Nagpur-Shirdi section

The highway police certainly keep a track of human fatalities resulting from incidents along the Nagpur-Shirdi section of the Samruddhi Mahamarg. However, the authorities lack information regarding the mortality rate of wild animals along the route.

In February, mid-day sought information regarding the total number of human deaths, species-wise wild animals deaths and stray dog / cat / cattle deaths along the stretch. A Right to Information (RTI) query filed with the Highway Police Maharashtra State (HPMS) revealed that the authorities only had information on the 14 human fatalities and didn't have records on the deaths of animals. The information provided was from the day the Nagpur-Shirdi section was inaugurated up to February 14.

On December 14, 2022, mid-day carried a story, ‘Samruddhi Mahamarg's first casualties: langur and blackbuck' and there have been several incidents involving wildlife since. In January, 14 wild boars were crushed to death close to Borgaon along the route. Conservationists too have been highlighting the issue and demanding additional measures to prevent accidents involving wild animals.

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Animals crossing the highway along the Nagpur-Shirdi section

Wildlife conservationist Kedar Gore of the Corbett Foundation said, "Though the highway police may not be mandated to keep a record of wild and stray animal deaths on the Samruddhi Highway, some sensitivity should be shown towards animal deaths too." According to Gore, the forest department should keep track of wildlife accidents and deaths so that more effective mitigation measures can be implemented at accident hotspots to prevent future mishaps.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that to date, the Nagpur-Shirdi stretch of the expressway has witnessed more than 900 accidents with more than 31 people losing their lives, as per data obtained from the Regional Transport Office. As per news reports, all these took place in the first hundred days. Of these, 130 were caused due to a tyre puncture, 108 were the result of tyre bursts and 124 were due to vehicles running out of fuel. Many of these accidents were allegedly due to speeding and there have been several instances of roadkill too.

The 701-km-long expressway has nine green overpasses and 17 underpasses to allow movement of wild animals. Sarosh Lodhi, conservation photographer and co-founder of wildlife group CLaW, said the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has also claimed that in order to minimise accidents and prevent animals from entering the highway corridor, it has prohibited the planting of 13 varieties of fruit-bearing trees that attract wildlife.

"However, if the authorities kept a record of mortality, it would have opened Pandora's box that would puncture the mitigation claims on highways like these. But the absence of figures gives rise to significant and critical questions such as how successful the mitigation measures have been," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Phase-I of the highway on December 11, 2022, after which it was thrown open for traffic. Phase-II of the highway - an 80 km stretch between Bharveer and Shirdi - is nearing completion and will be opened in May.

900
No. of mishaps on Nagpur-Shirdi stretch till date