Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife takes key infra decisions
The committee considered a proposal for the use of 310 ha of forest land from core zone of Namdapha Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh for upgrading a stretch of Arunachal Frontier Highway (NH-913), the agenda available on the environment ministry's Parivesh portal stated, adding that 248.79 ha of land will be required for 'intermediate laning' and 61.21 ha for disposal of muck.
'As part of the development of national highways, ministry of road, transport and highways (MoRT&H) has decided for improvement/upgradation (intermediate laning) of Arunachal Frontier Highway (NH-913) from NH-215 (near Kharsang) to Miao – Gandhigram - Vijaynagar road (package – 9) is keeping in view of the only one connectivity from capital of Arunachal Pradesh/ rest of Arunachal Pradesh to Vijaynagar. The existing length of the project road is 156.095 Km and connects the Miao to Vijaynagar (bordered by Myanmar). The construction of the road will also ensure development of the whole villages alongside the road. The Namdapha National Park/Tiger Reserve division wildlife land required to be diverted for construction of 'intermediate laning' is 248.79 hectares and for disposal of muck is 61.21 hectares, thus the total area of wildlife land required to be diverted is 310 hectares,' the agenda states.
Namdapha Tiger Reserve has a rich biodiversity and is home to tigers, elephants, Himalayan black bear, Himalayan sun bear, hoolock gibbon , slow loris among others.
The committee is likely to decide on another proposal for the use of 38.6 ha non-forest land from buffer zone of Orang Tiger Reserve in Assam for the construction of a two-lane road with paved shoulder from Basnaghat (Morigaon) to Burigaon (Kharupetia) and a new two-lane bridge over river Brahmaputra river in Darrang district of the state.
SCNBWL also considered a proposal for use of 4.5465 ha of land from core zone of Rajaji Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand for the development of ropeway from Triveni Ghat to Neelkanth Mahadev Mandir being built by Uttarakhand Metro Rail Urban Infra and Building Construction Corporation Limited.
Additionally, the committee discussed an agenda on monitoring the implementation of terms and conditions for the major infrastructure project proposals approved by SCNBWL in the last five to six years.
'This issue was discussed several times in the meeting of the Standing Committee, but how many proposals have been monitored to date is not known to its members. There is a need to monitor some of the major projects such as mining, industries, and linear projects...If not monitored despite repeated discussion, it may reflect non-seriousness towards the issues of wildlife conservation. First action should be to get a certificate from the Chief Wildlife Wardens of the states in a prescribed proforma because they are the responsible authority as per the provisions in the Act,' the agenda states.
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