The WII has also kept the option to use alternative Seoni-Chhindwara route with proper mitigation measures in three forest patches to retain connectivity to Satpuda-Bori-Pench tiger reserves.
On the direction of Supreme Court, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) submitted a modified proposal for diversion of forest land for proposed four-laning of NH-7 between Seoni in Madhya Pradesh and Mansar in Maharashtra.
The court had directed the government to approach the authorities under Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 to consider NHAI's revised proposal. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) discussed the proposal in a technical committee meeting on December 8, 2011, and gave it to the WII for review on NHAI's behalf. A two-member WII team had visited NH-6 and NH-7 from January 25 to February 7.
For four-laning NHAI needs forest land on around 55km patch in South Seoni Forest Division and periphery of Pench Tiger Reserve in MP (Seoni to Khawasa) and in 37km from Pench-Mansinghdeo sanctuary (Deolapar and Mansar). Of the total 89km road, around 60km touches dense forests that are also tiger corridors. Read the full report here.
Source: Vijay Pinjarkar, TNN, Nagpur.
