Telangana: Overpass eco-bridge for wild animals at Wankhidi to be ready soon

Eco-bridges are constructed with an aim to enhance wildlife connectivity that can be disrupted due to the traffic passing on highways in forest areas

Hyderabad: Telangana’s first overpass eco-bridge, which facilitates convenient and safe movement of wild animals on the Mancherial – Chandrapur route on National Highway 63, will be ready by August.

With the slab works done, officials are now taking up the retaining wall works. Once these concrete works are completed, the Forest department will take up vegetation works on the structure.

---

At least two to three feet thick grass shrubs will be raised on the overpass. There will be a lot of greenery on either sides leading to the bridge and it will not appear like conventional bridges. These works will begin from July and the structure will be ready by August, a senior Forest official said.

Eco-bridges are constructed with an aim to enhance wildlife connectivity that can be disrupted due to the traffic passing on highways in forest areas. Unlike conventional underpasses, which are constructed in forest areas, the eco-bridge coming up near Wankidi is an overpass structure.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is constructing the overpass bridge, which is about 100 metres wide and nearly 750 metres long. The structure is being built at a cost of Rs.30 crore. While, NHAI is executing the works, the Forest department is monitoring the works to ensure there is no violation of Wildlife Institute of India guidelines, the official said.

Apart from the overpass eco-bridge, an underpass is also being constructed at Rebbana towards the Mancherial end, facilitating smooth traffic movement in the area. The Mancherial – Chandrapur route in the Kaghaznagar forest is an eco-sensitive zone as tigers generally pass along the route while migrating from Maharashtra into Telangana.

There have been a few instances when wild animals were hit by speeding vehicles. This apart, with the Telangana government according top priority for tiger conservation, measures are being taken to ensure the tigers migrating from Maharashtra reside in Telangana’s forests.

Construction of the overpass bridge will help in safe movement of the wild animals as vehicles would shuttle beneath the structure, the official said.

On the reasons for constructing an overpass bridge, the official said generally wild animals hesitate to pass through underpasses during nights due to lack of sufficient space or poor light. During monsoon, the passage gets filled up with rainwater, making it challenging for wild animals to move across.