Delhi-Dehradun expressway, Asia’s longest wildlife corridor

DEHRADUN: The Delhi-Dehradun Economic Expressway, Asia’s longest wildlife corridor, is likely to be ready by October this year, according to officials. The highway once ready will reduce the travel time between Delhi and Dehradun to just two-and-a-half hours from the present six hours.

There are dense forests on both sides of the Expressway and the movement of wildlife continues. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is taking steps to ensure that wildlife is not disturbed by the noise of traffic on the Expressway.

NHAI has built eight underpasses along the Expressway to ease the movement of wild animals, including tigers and elephants, during the daytime. Wild animals present, scared by the traffic, cross the road in the middle of the night when the entire traffic comes to a stop.

P K Maurya, project director, NHAI-Dehradun, told The New Indian Express, “Headlights of vehicles, honking and vehicular noise also disturb the world of wildlife, which NHAI has solved in the form of a noise barrier. It is a type of fibre sheet, which is made of polycarbonate material. It will be installed up to a height of four metres on both sides of the highway.

The speciality of this sheet is that it prevents the noise of vehicles from going out and throws the light inwards at night.” “Two elephant corridors of 200 meters each with a height of seven meters are being built from Asharodi to Daat Kali Temple in Dehradun. Meanwhile, elephants will also be able to cross the road seamlessly from this side of the road. About 50 per cent of the work on the elephant corridor has been completed, said Maurya.