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This is an archive article published on March 23, 2015

Wildlife route on NH: Prakash Javadekar junks advice by experts, remarks edited out

The institute had already reduced scale of its first mitigation plan for a 37-km stretch of NH-7 and slashed its expenditure to Rs 335 crore.

Prakash Javadekar, Wildlife Institute of India, NH-7, Pench-Kanha tiger forest Wildlife Institute of India had recommended to build flyovers and underpasses to allow movement of animals across NH-7 in the Pench-Kanha tiger forest landscape.

In a meeting held on February 13 in Pune, Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis dismissed the Wildlife Institute of India’s recommendations to build flyovers and underpasses to allow movement of animals across NH-7 in the Pench-Kanha tiger forest landscape, calling these “impractical and un-executable”.

While Gadkari and his ministry vehemently opposed the mitigation plan chalked up by the WII for the four-laning of the highway, Javadekar also discarded the views of the premier institute falling under his own ministry. Soon after, the minutes of the meeting were edited.

The minutes released by Virendra Tiwari, Chief Conservator of Forests, HQ, on February 18 said Javadekar had asked state forest officials “to briefly respond [to] the suggestion of NHAI for reducing the size of the three structures which in his opinion were also unreasonable and unnecessary”.

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The revised minutes, issued on February 24 by a desk officer, said the minister had asked state forest officials “to briefly respond [to] the suggestion of NHAI and consider a more practical solution that will be cost effective while serving the purpose of allowing wildlife to cross the highway safely after the four landing of NH-7.”

Tiwari said the revision was “nothing unusual”. “The minutes required some correction… We need to take all the three ministers’ consent,” he said. He refused to confirm if the minutes were issued on February 18 without checking with Javadekar.

Meanwhile, the WII’s mitigation plans have been watered down. The institute had already reduced the scale of its first mitigation plan for a 37-km stretch of NH-7 and slashed its expenditure from Rs 750 crore to Rs 335 crore.

Of the nine structures proposed, the major components — two 1-km-long flyovers and one 300-metre underpass — have come down to four 50-metre underpasses. This will further reduce the cost, to Rs 122 crore.

Jay Mazoomdaar is an investigative reporter focused on offshore finance, equitable growth, natural resources management and biodiversity conservation. Over two decades, his work has been recognised by the International Press Institute, the Ramnath Goenka Foundation, the Commonwealth Press Union, the Prem Bhatia Memorial Trust, the Asian College of Journalism etc. Mazoomdaar’s major investigations include the extirpation of tigers in Sariska, global offshore probes such as Panama Papers, Robert Vadra’s land deals in Rajasthan, India’s dubious forest cover data, Vyapam deaths in Madhya Pradesh, mega projects flouting clearance conditions, Nitin Gadkari’s link to e-rickshaws, India shifting stand on ivory ban to fly in African cheetahs, the loss of indigenous cow breeds, the hydel rush in Arunachal Pradesh, land mafias inside Corbett, the JDY financial inclusion scheme, an iron ore heist in Odisha, highways expansion through the Kanha-Pench landscape etc. ... Read More

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