Elevated Stretch On National Highway 44: The new elevated stretches construction along the highway of Seoni-Nagpur have come in for a lot of praise in recent times. The elevated stretch which passes through the Pench Tiger Reserve helps humans as well as protects animals around the NH 44 (National Highway).
These constructions have ensured that the movement of animals and animal corridors remains undisturbed in the long stretch that runs between Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
The animals include leopards, tigers, wild dogs, wild pigs, etc, have been using the facility as proof. According to the reports, between March and December, camera traps have captured 5450 images of these animals.
This has come as good news to WII (Wildlife Institute of India) researchers as it has been found that 11 tigers are using the newly constructed structure frequently.
Building this stretch was not easy. In 2020, the work on this NH44 section has begun. In the year 2011, the Supreme court did not agree to sanction the stretch passing through tiger reserve. The WII came up with some mitigation measures in the year 2012, but the NHAI (National Highways Authority of India) found it more expensive.
The Bombay High Court allowed the felling of trees for the elevated corridor construction, in the year 2015.
In March 2019, the elevated stretch work was completed.
Nowadays, more projects like that are coming up in India. In Uttarakhand, NH 72 and NH 58 will have three elephant underpasses, and NH 54 in Assam’s Lumding will have two elephant passes.
