Members of Gujarat’s State Board for Wildlife (SBWL) have spoken against a highway plan that would cut through the habitat of the majority of Asiatic lions. Shyamal Tikadar, chief wildlife warden Gujarat and SBWL member secretary, stated in a presentation that turning the road into tar would be detrimental to Gir.
According to him, I strongly supported for the cancellation of the proposed highway project. The 13.5 km route through the sanctuary is near a railway track and is part of state highway 111, which connects Visavadar town Junagadh to Sasan.
Rajesh Chudasama, a Junagadh BJP MP, has written to the Union Minister of Environment, Forestry, and Climate Change (MoEF & CC) requesting that the proposal be approved as soon as possible. The department asked for permission to convert the highway from a kuccha to a pucca road with a bitumen finish.
CM Bhupendra Patel, the board chairman, will make the final decision on this and other proposals discussed at the meeting. According to experts, the road project could increase the number of speeding vehicles, increasing the likelihood of accidents involving wild animals.
According to Bhushan Pandya, many SBWL members are opposed to the road project proposal.
Gir’s strength, he claims, lies in its compactness, and increased traffic will not only disrupt the lions’ corridors and limit their movements, but will also fragment the vegetation.