The construction of the second phase of the greenfield four-lane Bangalore-Chennai Expressway has been given a green signal

The second phase of the ambitious 262 km, four-lane Bangalore-Chennai Motorway, which would cost the Centre over Rs 16,000 crore, has received approval from the National Board for Wildlife's standing committee.

The motorway would decrease the travel time between the two metropolises by approximately three hours as it passes through Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. It is located inside the Chittoor division of the ESZ of the Koundinya Wildlife Sanctuary and the Rayala Elephant Reserve, both of which are managed by Bharatmala. It also lies within the Palamaner and Tekumanda reserve forests. The NHAI has suggested using 61.73 hectares of forest land for the expressway's development.

The NBWL retained a few requirements in place during its meeting on April 25 that the project's proponent, NHAI, must uphold. The proposed area can only be used for the motorway and cannot be used for any commercial purposes. The Forest Department will oversee the diversion work, the agency must demarcate the areas of the diversion before work begins, and the agency is not allowed to excavate in the nearby forest land for the purpose of collecting earth.

The agency would be required to submit a wildlife conservation plan for Rs. 1,698 lakh and 2% of the project cost in order to prevent confrontations between people and elephants.

The proposal was examined by a committee after an earlier NBWL meeting in December 2022, and the committee advised "considerably strengthening the animal passage plan for the 4-lane motorway along the 7.1 km stretch passing through the forests of Chittoor Forest Division and Rayala Elephant Reserve" as well as the construction of underpasses to ensure the free movement for elephants. Later, the NHAI amended the intended road's 3,090 metres of clear access for animals.

The NBWL further stated that a research project should be carried out "to ensure the efficacy of the animal passages as well as monitor possible repercussions such as wildlife-human conflicts" to study the movement of elephants and other fauna in this landscape, including GPS collaring, with funding from NHAI, involving regional institutions, researchers, Wild Life Warden/DFO, and field staff.

The Forest Department of Andhra Pradesh will also prepare and implement a Biodiversity Conservation plan with funding from the NHAI for the entire 48 km stretch of the NHAI road within 10 km of the ESZ. This plan will include setting up a rapid response team and other measures for the mitigation of wildlife-human conflicts.