Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway Will Be The First In India To Have Flyovers For Animal Crossing

The upcoming Mumbai-Nagpur expressway, also known as Hindu Hruday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg, will be the first highway in the country to have overpasses and underpasses for wild animal movement.

A total of nine overpasses and 17 underpasses will be constructed along the expressway that is 701 Kms long.

BCCL

According to The Times of India, in addition to the green bridges, leopard-proof fences will also be constructed along the expressway to prevent wild animals from accidentally entering the road.

Expressway passes through animal habitat

This is significant as the expressway that passes through 390 villages and 10 districts has some key wildlife areas.

A total 117km of the expressway passes through wildlife habitats, tiger corridors, and eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) of three sanctuaries ¡ª Tansa, (corridor of Harishchandragadh sanctuary), Katepurna, and Karanja Sohol called as wildlife-focused area (WFA).

BCCL

There are 96 wildlife structures, which include seven overpass bridges, 89 underpasses, box culverts, and a few bridges, being created to facilitate the passage of wildlife.

RL Mopalwar, managing director of MSRDC told The Times of India that this was the first time in the country that any highway will have so many wildlife structures and green bridges.

"Most of these structures are 32, 45, and 60 metres wide and 120 metres long. These will have plantations and will look like a natural forest path to allow animals to cross safely even as traffic will pass under it. These will also have noise barriers so that animals don¡¯t feel threatened,¡± he said.

BCCL

No fruit-trees

Last year it was also decided that no fruit-bearing trees such mango, orange, dates, cashew and jamun will be planted along the expressway to avoid attracting animals such as monkeys, and birds that may get crushed under the wheels, and thus disturb their habitat.

Despite a large number of roadkill reported from across the country, in July 2021, Union road and highways minister Nitin Gadkari had told the Lok Sabha that ¡°no incident of killing of wild animals in road accidents on national highways (NHs) has been reported by the MoRTH during the last 3 years in the country¡±.

Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway

The expressway will connect Mumbai and Nagpur reducing the travel time to eight hours.

BCCL

The six-lane highway that is estimated to cost Rs 55,000 crore is expected to be complete by December 2022.

It will connect several industrial areas, the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) , the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC), dry ports of Wardha and Jalna and Mumbai¡¯s JNPT.

For more on news, sports and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.