KOCHI: The standing committee of the national board for wildlife has cleared a proposal to use 134.1 hectares of land, including 9.526 hectares of forest for the development of Palakkad - Kozhikode Greenfield highway. The highway will be passing outside the buffer zone of Silent Valley National Park at an aerial distance of 5.7km to 7.3 km away from the forest boundary. The silent valley national park has a core area of 89.52 sq km, which is surrounded by a buffer zone of 148 sq km. The new green field highway will be passing 5.7 km to 7.3 km away from the buffer zone boundary.
The total length of the highway is 121.006 km. Works Minister P A Mohammed Riyas had informed the Kerala Assembly in January that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has cleared the project. The highway passing through the districts of Palakkad, Malappuram and Kozhikode will be developed as a high- speed corridor.
The Zoological Survey of India had prepared a mitigation plan for the project proposal which includes construction of culverts, viaducts and open ducts. Though the proposed area is totally outside the elephant reserve, it passes close to the critical ecological zone of Silent Valley and some elephants are found crossing the highway and entering the western side which may cause an escalation of human-wild elephant conflict.
Considering the possibility of conflict, the state government has proposed a mitigation plan which will be funded by the NHAI. The Wildlife Board has directed to ensure that elephants do not have access to the area. The mitigation plan shall be designed to prevent elephants from crossing over to the western side.
Chief Wildlife Warden Pramod G Krishnan said that the mitigation plan has been designed to address these concerns. The primary approach involves the strategic installation of barricades.
The NHAI should remit Rs 88.88 crore to the Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) account towards implementation of biodiversity conservation plan and for mitigation of human-wildlife conflict, which includes habitat restoration.
The amount should be remitted before the commencement of work. The NHAI should not excavate the forest land for collection of earth for construction work. The works should be conducted between sunrise and sunset.