Sambalpur: Marking areas as elephant corridors on the Sambalpur-Tileibani stretch of National Highway-53 without construction of underpasses has posed serious threat to the lives of the pachyderms and other wildlife crossing the highway during their movement, a report said.
Tileibani is located in Deogarh district. The error has been committed at three places on Sambalpur-Tileibani stretch of National Highway-53, the report said. The agency, except putting up a signboard which mentions the area as elephant corridor, has not constructed any underpass on the stretch of highway.
Residents held the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and the forest department responsible for the blunder. Locals said that several jumbo herds are living in Dhama, Padiabahal, Rengali forest ranges under Sambalpur forest division.
These herds often use the corridor marked on the highway to move from one jungle to another and this might endanger their lives during movement, they said.
Residents alleging favouritism to the consultancy agency said that they brought the matter to the notice of the NHAI but no effort was made to construct underpasses by making changes in the planned drawings of the highway.
However, after complaints were made, the highway authority made changes in the Sambalpur-Angul stretch of National Highway-55 to accommodate underpasses. The residents demanding construction of underpasses at 10 or more places staged a protest and stopped the highway construction works.
However, no one listened to their pleas. The agency went ahead with the highway construction works without constructing any underpass by simply marking some places on the highway as elephant corridors.
Locals alleged that this has been done to help the consultancy agency make profits from the highway works. Locals said that there cannot be two sets of rules in construction of highways when the NHAI is the apex authority responsible for management and construction of the network of highways in the country.
They alleged that in its bid to finish the work quickly, the NHAI overlooked the wildlife protection rules of the government. They demanded that elephant corridors should be constructed on the basis of wildlife protection rules of the government.
Earlier, the consultancy agency had landed in soup for sub-standard work and irregularity in use of flyash. The NHAI was forced to form a probe team. The team conducted a probe and warned the agency for proper construction of the highway and not to use substandard raw materials in its construction.
Moreover, the road construction is getting delayed, due to which many people have lost their lives in the last few years. Now, the recent move has endangered the lives of elephants and other wildlife.
Locals claimed that in the past, there were elephant corridors at Jayantpur, Niladunguri, ahead of Gaidapalli bridge when the highway was narrow having only a single road. Then, there was not much traffic on the route and elephants could move freely across the highway.
However, with change in time the expansion of the highway has been taken up while dividers are being constructed in the median of the highway. This will deter the movement of wildlife on the highway.
As per rules, the forest department has to conduct a survey and submit a report to the NHAI before the construction of the highway informing about the number of elephant corridors on the route. Later, the NHAI has to prepare a drawing for construction of the highway and float tender for the purpose.
The NHAI and the appointed agency can also make changes in the drawing as per requirement. When contacted, Nageswar Rao, project director, NHAI rejected the charge stating that plans have been made for construction of two underpasses on the Sambalpur-Tileibani stretch of the highway.
He, however, admitted no plan has been made for construction of an underpass on the elephant corridor near Padiabahal. Tejaraj Nayak, assistant conservator of forests, said plans are afoot for construction of an underpass ahead of the Gaidapalli bridge.
However, no plan has been made to construct underpasses in other places as the land belongs to private individuals. He said that signboards have been put up in all those places.
PNN