In India when a new road or bridge project is
planned, there is only perfunctory reference to impact on wildlife. An EIA
(Environmental impact analysis), might be done in some cases to meet the needs
of the statute books, but there is absolutely no proviso for making the roads
and bridges wildlife friendly in its true sense. In several European countries,
US, and Canada, in house transportation biologists are an integral part of the
whole process of roads and bridges building. They see to it that roads and bridges
projects avoid or circumvent sensitive wildlife habitat and help minimize and
mitigate environmental impacts to streams, wetlands, and other prime wildlife
habitats. Sometime exclusive wildlife bridges (ecoduct) are also built. These
wildlife bridges guarantee safe crossing for wildlife in the maze of heavy
traffic and cacophony of highways.
In the Netherlands, which has taken a leading role
in the field of wildlife friendly roads, there are 600 tunnels to direct
wildlife away from highways. Fencing is also resorted to in concert with
tunnels, as good option in guiding wildlife to safe crossing structures and
prevent crossing in vulnerable areas. In wildlifers’ parlance this practice is
called funnelling. Animals’ use of these passages can be optimised by providing
plant cover near the entrances. Reducing the plant cover along road curves and
increasing it along level stretches has been found to be very effective in
bringing down road kills.
I was thrilled to read recently about what Sarah
Piecuch,a transportation biologist working with New York State Department
of Transportation (NYSDOT) did for otters. While involved in a road a
project at Melvin Brook in Clyde, New York, early in the project’s development,
Sarah noticed an otter (Lontra canadensis) kill, at a project site. Her
inquisitiveness led her to a large culvert in the area which was constantly
filled with water. This culvert was interrupting the scent trail of the otters.
Scent trail is very important in the biology of otter. The lack of an upland
area forced the otters to come out of the water and travel over the road
embankment to leave a scent trail. This upland travel made them vulnerable to
road traffic and many were inadvertently getting killed. Sarah explained the
need and ideal parameters for an upland bench to the engineers. The project
engineers were delighted to take up the challenge and came up with an ingenious
upland bench below the culvert. It was fruition of great team work of
biologists and engineers. Sarah identified the need and the engineers
found a perfect solution. This kind of teamwork is what is needed for our roads
and bridges projects and not hastily sewn up EIA.
The transportation biologists have to be involved
right from the planning stages. It is easy to find solutions at the early
stages. Providing enough culverts for wildlife, to use as underpasses,
could come in very handy, as topography has the greatest impact on road kills.
Studies by University of Calgary researchers have found that, small animals
were far less likely to get killed on sections of roads that were raised than
on sections that were level with the surrounding terrain. Engineers and
biologists working as a close knit team could come up with perfect solutions.
Even existing structures can be made wildlife
friendly with innovative planning. Species like barn owls and cormorants very
effectively use the bridges in urban scenarios. Many other birds use the
bridges for perching, nesting and roosting. A transportation biologist can
advise the engineer, how to take in to account the needs of the birds while
repairing or painting the structures. Bridges can provide suitable day and
night roosting habitat for bats.
The avenues of transportation biologists and
engineers working hand in hand are multifarious. Road ecology has become an
important new branch of science and has made great strides abroad. It is high
time we did something along these lines in India also. The time to act is ripe,
as India is on a fast track of infrastructure developments. India should not
lag behind is this sphere. Mitigating interactions between roads and wildlife
is going to be very important in the years to come.
1 comment:
Great to see you back in action Mohanji
Sivram Rajan
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