Sabyasachi Patra
29-01-2015, 03:28 PM
Dedicated Freight Corridor Bad News For Bears
The NBWL (National Board for Wildlife) has cleared a proposal to dissect the Balaram Sanctuary by laying double railway tracks for the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC). The Balaram Sanctuary has sloth bear and leopard populations and their habitat will be fragmented and many of them are likely to be killed when this Dedicated Freight corridor connecting Delhi to Mumbai becomes operational.
The NBWL has said that the state forest department should ensure that there are underpasses for the movement of wildlife. Easier said than done, the underpasses unless designed scientifically, will not be used by the wildlife. Gujarat has only 293 sloth bears and a majority of those are concentrated in Balaram and Jessore sanctuaries.
The dedicated freight corridor is a lot different from the regular single tracks and will have a heavy freight traffic. This will result in permanently fragmenting the habitat and any wildlife trying to cross it would be at a risk of being killed.
The NBWL (National Board for Wildlife) has cleared a proposal to dissect the Balaram Sanctuary by laying double railway tracks for the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC). The Balaram Sanctuary has sloth bear and leopard populations and their habitat will be fragmented and many of them are likely to be killed when this Dedicated Freight corridor connecting Delhi to Mumbai becomes operational.
The NBWL has said that the state forest department should ensure that there are underpasses for the movement of wildlife. Easier said than done, the underpasses unless designed scientifically, will not be used by the wildlife. Gujarat has only 293 sloth bears and a majority of those are concentrated in Balaram and Jessore sanctuaries.
The dedicated freight corridor is a lot different from the regular single tracks and will have a heavy freight traffic. This will result in permanently fragmenting the habitat and any wildlife trying to cross it would be at a risk of being killed.