Kaziranga National Park: Environmentalist Highlights How Construction Work & Solar Floodlights Disorient & Affect Wildlife Movement

Environmentalists have raised concerns about the ongoing construction work inside Kaziranga National Park. The construction of National Highway 37 (NH 37), which will cut through the national park, is currently in progress there. They have highlighted how the development work at various designated wildlife corridors inside the park will impact wildlife movement. They pointed out that solar floodlights, concrete and metal posts, and the fender barriers along the road will hinder their movement.

Construction Work Inside Kaziranga National Park Affects Wildlife

Pea-brained initiatives in the name of ‘Parivartan’. Whosoever thought of installing solar flood lights in wildlife corridors of Kaziranga National Park..!! @HDFC_Bank @HDFCBank_Cares Please be kind enough to remove these..!! @kaziranga_ @assamforest @ntca_india @moefcc pic.twitter.com/KzmqvX5Ypc

— Rohit Choudhury (@Rohitskaziranga) June 10, 2024

Environment and RTI activist Rohit Choudhury has raised some serious concerns about the ongoing construction work inside Kaziranga National Park. In a series of posts on his X (formerly Twitter) account, he shared pictures of the infrastructural work going on inside the national park. His posts showed floodlights, concrete and metal posts, and fender barriers on roadsides inside the Kaziranga area. Rohit Choudhury mentioned how all this will impact the wildlife movement and even hamper nature.

He wrote letters stating his concerns to the Secretary of the Ministry Of Environment And Forests. The letters were also shared with the Chief Secretary, Government of Assam, Director General of Forests and Special Secretary, MoEFCC, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, and Head of Forest Force, Assam.

Ten months back and now. Haldhibari wildlife corridor (National Highway-37) of Kaziranga National Park & Tiger Reserve, Assam..!! @byadavbjp @moefcc @ntca_india @assamforest @kaziranga_ @CSAssam_ @dcgolaghat pic.twitter.com/CKuY4F2owM

— Rohit Choudhury (@Rohitskaziranga) June 10, 2024

In his letter, as reported by the Hindustan Times, he mentioned that NH-37, which runs across the Kaziranga National Park acts as a “barrier to the free movement of wild animals from the park to the nearby forest.” He then went on to highlight how Kaziranga and Karbi Anglong require secure connectivity for the movement of larger wildlife, especially during floods. Keeping all this in mind, he said that the construction work, fences, and barriers have completely disturbed the movement of the wild animals across NH-37.

He then went on to mention how the vegetation cover in the area has also been cleared for construction. Not only that, he further talked about the use of solar floodlights in the area in his letter. He mentioned how these bright lights confuse and disorient the wildlife crossing the highway. The letter also mentioned how censor cameras inside the national park are missing.

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What The Authorities Had To Say About This

Responding to Rohit Choudhury’s concern about the infrastructural work inside Kaziranga National Park, Sonali Ghosh, Director of Kaziranga National Park released a statement. As reported by Hindustan Times, she said that mitigation measures are in place for the wildlife inside the national park. She mentioned that the floodlights in the area are not as many as mentioned in the letter so the impact cannot be serious. They have, thankfully, removed the metal posts and barriers and are working on the issues that were raised by the environmentalists.

Infrastructural growth and development is very important but at the cost of nature? We leave it for you to decide. These pictures show how nature and wildlife always end up facing the brunt of human development! What are your thoughts on this entire matter? Let us know in the comments.

Cover Image Courtesy: X/rohitskaziranga