Chittoor-Thatchur expressway to get wildlife crossings
CHENNAI: The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests’ Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) has granted environment clearance for the six-lane Chittoor-Thatchur Road (NH 716B) with several conditions, including construction of wildlife passes to avoid wildlife injury or death and also to obtain approval for the Wildlife Conservation Plan.
The EAC has asked the project proponent to keep the road level sufficiently elevated from ground level with the provision of railing on both sides to restrict animals crossing in order to avoid the possibility of wildlife injury or death. “Sufficient animal passes should be provided by the NHAI at regular intervals as suggested in the mitigation plan and the wildlife conservation plan prepared and approved by the chief wildlife warden as per recent guidelines of Wildlife Institute of India for linear infrastructure projects,” the EAC report stated.
After the EAC had returned the environment impact assessment of the project in July 2020 pulling up the project consultant for not carrying out the study properly, the committee whose 251st meeting minutes was published last month has recommended environmental clearance for the new greenfield alignment of the 126.5 km six-lane expressway. The construction of the new expressway would provide an alternative route to reach Bengaluru via Chittoor avoiding the congested Maduravoyal-Sriperumbudur stretch.
The committee also asked the NHAI to ensure all major and minor bridges and culverts don’t affect the drainage systems. “Flood plains of the rivers and drainage systems are not be disturbed. No groundwater should be extracted and used during the construction and post-construction phases,” it said, adding, the recommendations of cumulative impact assessment studies and proposed mitigation measures for all the packages should be implemented in total and submitted to the concerned regional office of the Environment Ministry along with half-yearly project compliance report.