Chennai
The plan to build the wildlife overpass or eco-duct in the Gangaikondan Spotted Deer Sanctuary in Tirunelveli district was first mooted in 2012 and the proposal is now pending with the state government. A wildlife overpass, which is the landscaping above the main carriageway (highway) to provide connectivity to the wildlife would look like extended portion of the forest with native plants grown all over the structure.
Reports of spotted deer being run over by speeding vehicles in Gangaikondan, in the Tirunelveli-Madurai section of the NH 7 has become commonplace. The deer jump over the protective walls of the sanctuary in search of food and water. To mitigate this, forest officials in Tirunelveli submitted a proposal to build wildlife overpass so that the animals could avoid the busy highway to cross the road.
“Ever since the area has been declared a sanctuary in 2013, steps have been taken to strengthen the existing compound wall and also to grow fodder crops to save the deer population at an outlay of about Rs 3 crore. But there is no confirmation yet on the proposed wildlife overpass,” a forest official told DT Next.
The forest department also has planned to alert motorists about the deer crossing area using solar blinkers. The sanctuary, which is home to more than 500 deer is the only spotted deer sanctuary in Tamil Nadu. “Even after strengthening the compound walls of the sanctuary with fences, I don’t think they can be prevented from scaling the walls,” D Saravana Karthikeyan, a wildlife enthusiast in Tirunelveli said. According to citizens, it is high time the government consider the proposal to build the wildlife overpass as it is the effective wildlife mitigation plan.
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