NEW DELHI: Over the last five years, the government has invested around Rs 19,700 crore in wildlife mitigation infrastructure and related environmental protection measures across national highway (NH) projects. These interventions are aimed at addressing key challenges associated with highway infrastructure development, including habitat fragmentation, barrier effects and wildlife–vehicle collisions, while ensuring the safe movement of traffic.
According to a report titled Wildlife Mitigation Measures & Structures, released recently, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has constructed or proposed more than 2,150 wildlife mitigation structures along highways across the country. The list includes Animal Under Passes (AUPs), bridge-integrated crossings such as major bridge-cum-AUPs and minor bridge-cum-AUPs, culverts adapted for wildlife movement, canopy crossings and other specialised structures.
The document further highlighted that, as part of structural mitigation measures, around Rs 4,600 crore has been invested in animal underpasses, Rs 650 crore in animal overpasses and Rs 8,300 crore in viaducts. Investment in construction planning stands at Rs 2,800 crore. The authority has also spent Rs 2,500 crore on major bridge projects and Rs 500 crore on minor bridges.
The wildlife mitigation structures facilitate the safe movement of wildlife across highway corridors and help maintain ecological connectivity between habitats.
The document was released by Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari during a two-day Chintan Shivir held in Ekta Nagar, Gujarat. It reflects the NHAI’s approach to developing national highway infrastructure while balancing connectivity and mobility requirements with environmental sustainability and wildlife conservation.
“The NHAI’s mitigation planning is guided by the ecological sensitivity of project corridors, wildlife movement patterns and the technical feasibility of infrastructure design. This enables wildlife mitigation measures to be planned according to the specific ecological and engineering requirements of individual highway corridors. NHAI has complemented these structural measures with a range of non-structural interventions aimed at minimising disturbance and improving habitat conditions, such as noise barriers, reptile crossings, rainwater harvesting and other wildlife management interventions,” officials said.
The report stated that, to guide wildlife towards designated crossing structures and reduce the possibility of animal–vehicle conflicts, guide fencing and noise barriers have been provided along more than 300 km of NH alignments.
NHAI has also established monitoring mechanisms, including camera trapping, to assess wildlife movement patterns and support periodic evaluation of mitigation measures, the document stated.
Wildlife–vehicle collision hotspots are identified and appropriate measures, including speed regulation boards and signage, are provided to minimise risks to wildlife as well as highway users.
The document also underscored the importance of collaboration between the conservation community and agencies involved in NH infrastructure development. The approach adopted by NHAI seeks to ensure that mitigation measures are incorporated at different stages of national highway development, enabling infrastructure expansion to be undertaken with due regard to biodiversity conservation and statutory environmental compliance requirements.
