Saving wildlife while we drive

From – https://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-maharashtra-government-sets-up-panel-to-avoid-roadkill-2706565

The Committee – bringing peace

committee will identify proposed road projects cutting through tiger corridors, study their impact on tiger dispersal and suggest mitigation measures

The current state of affairs

Road kills by speeding vehicles have taken a toll on wildlife, leading to demands for mitigation measures like underpasses and overpasses being incorporated in the designs of road projects.
In December 2017, Bajirao, the dominant male of the Bor tiger reserve died after being hit by a vehicle on the Nagpur- Amravati highway.
In April 2018, a leopard was found dead on the same highway after being run over.

  • In January 2018, tiger ‘Jaichand,’ the offspring of Maharashtra’s iconic tiger Jai, had a lucky escape he fell into the main canal of the Gosikhurd dam near Paoni in Bhandara.

What’s at stake from Humans is Development

  • Projects for construction of new roads in the Vidarbha landscape, which has most of the 203 tigers recorded in Maharashtra, had led to fresh concerns.
  • Similar concerns have been raised about other projects like irrigation canals and Greenfield and expansion of Brownfield railway lines.