NH 44 still a death trap for wildlife

Leopard hit by speeding vehicle in Kamareddy, sixth so far

National Highway 44 running through Kamareddy district continues to be a death trap for wildlife, and claimed the life of one more leopard on Thursday. The leopard, believed to be a sub-adult, was killed on the spot after being hit by an unidentified speeding vehicle late on Thursday night in the Manchippa forest block near Daggi village.

In September 2022, a young leopard was killed while trying to cross the four-lane highway. There have been at least four more leopard road kills on NH 44 between Armoor and Kamareddy in the last two years.

Forest department officials said that though they had repeatedly approached the National Highways Authority of India to take steps to reduce vehicle speeds on NH 44 when it passes through the forest blocks in Kamareddy and Nizamabad districts, they have had no luck so far.

“In the Manchippa forest block, we have leopards, sloth bear, spotted deer, and sambar that cross the highway.

We have urged NHAI to take steps to help avoid roadkills but it has not happened,” Kamareddy forest divisional ifficer Joshi Gopal Rao said.

He said they identified a 1.5 to 2 km stretch of the

highway near Daggi village where wild animals cross and where the road cuts through the reserve forest.

The identification of the wildlife crossing stretch, however, came at a steep price. The forest officials placed camera traps to record animal movement along the highway and gathered what data they could in terms of pictures of animals taken as they crossed the road. But now, they have stopped this practice. “We lost eight camera traps each costing between `25,000 and `30,000. We also filed complaints with the police on these thefts and FIRS were issued but that was about it,” he said.

Unless some urgent steps are taken to control vehicle speeds, more wild animals are likely to be killed on NH 44, he said.