The Union Environment Ministry’s Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) has cleared a 235-km green highway linking Varanasi to Kolkata under the Bharatmala Pariyojana Project Phase II programme. The project requires conversion of over 103 hectares of reserved and protected forest land in West Bengal – an area which the committee noted is partly within the tiger landscape.
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) project, a four- to six-lane access controlled corridor estimated at approx. $Rs 9,250 crore was taken up at the 444th meeting of the EAC on April 23-24. As a Category A project under the 2006 EIA Notification, it required mandatory environmental approval due to its size and potential environmental impact.
The alignment passes through Purulia, Bankura, Patchim Medinipur, Hooghly and Howrah districts of West Bengal. Of the 103,8593 hectares of forest land to be converted, 62.8 hectares fall across Purulia, Kangsapati, Bankura South and Panshet forest divisions, and the remaining 41 hectares falls under Roopnarayan forest division. The project also requires 1,522 hectares of private agricultural and barren land and 673 hectares of government land.
The study area is home to 17 Schedule I species under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, including Indian elephant, leopard, Indian pangolin, striped hyena and cobra. The Jangalmahal elephant corridor is located 7.75 km to the south of the project alignment, increasing the possibility of wildlife incursion.
To manage wildlife movement, NHAI has proposed construction of 20 wildlife tunnels for elephants. The committee cleared these in principle but imposed a strict condition: no tunnel shall be built at a distance of less than 300 metres, in line with the recommendations of the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO).
The minutes of the EAC meeting record that the committee “stressed” that wildlife crossing structures “shall be fully compatible with the recommendations of the Office of External Affairs”.
NHAI, which designed the alignment in consultation with the state forest department, has included this requirement in its application.
The Committee noted a broader concern in its clearance memorandum. “The project area forms part of the tiger landscape,” the minutes said, noting that the environment management plan includes site-specific wildlife conservation strategies and adequate budget allocations to minimize impacts on animal movement and habitat integrity. The highway will pass over more than a dozen water bodies, including the Rupnarayan River, Mundeshwari River and Damodar River, as well as several small rivers and sub-canals running through the plains of West Bengal.
“The Gongol Mahal region already witnesses very high instances of negative interactions between humans and elephants that often result in injuries and losses on both sides,” said Meghna Banerjee, co-founder of the Human-Environment Alliance (HEAL). “Shrinking habitat further exacerbates the problem as it forces elephants to live in human habitations, forcing them to share common spaces with people.”
“In this context, any new linear projects that involve the conversion of any forest land, especially near elephant corridors, will only exacerbate the conflict. Therefore, permits for any such projects in these sensitive areas must be examined with these specific considerations in mind,” she added.
