GURUGRAM: According to an estimate, in the last four years, more than 20 wild animals — including 10-month-old and seven-month-old female leopards — have lost their lives on the Gurugram-Faridabad road, either run over or hit by speeding vehicles.Shockingly, five wild animals — including a leopard, two jackals, an Indian fox and an Indian hare — have been killed in road accidents in the first three months of the year. Besides, the Pali road that transects the Gurugram-Faridabad road in Faridabad, and the Surajkund-Badkal road bisecting the Pali road, have also reported cases of roadkill.Developed as a state highway some 12 years ago, and winding its way through the fauna-rich Aravalis , this stretch embodies the conflict between man and animal. And chief among the reasons behind the large number of deaths is that each of the three roads bifurcate the natural wildlife corridor between Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary in Delhi and Sariska Tiger Reserve in Alwar, Rajasthan. This bifurcation has ended up fragmenting habitats by altering the local topography, adversely affecting the entire ecology of the area.Worse, little effort has gone into ensuring the safety and protection of the many species of wildlife in the region. When TOI visited the three roads, it found hardly any speed-breakers, even near sensitive zones like Mangar Bani and Asola Bhatti.On a 4km stretch on the Gurugram-Faridabad road, between the check-post in Mangar village and Pali road, there is just one speed-breaker, while the Pali (8.4km) and Surajkund-Badkal (7.8km, till the shooting range in Faridabad) roads have only four speed-breakers. Lamentably, there is not a single signboard indicating the presence of wild animals on the three stretches.“Last month, we reported the death of a fox and an Indian hare on the Surajkund road. In January, a female leopard was run over by a heavy vehicle on the Gurugram-Faridabad road. These are the cases that get reported. However, the fact is that wild animals die every day on these roads and several cases go unreported. Sadly, the authorities don’t even lift the carcasses, except in the case of leopards’ deaths,” says Sanjay Rao, a wildlife activist from environmental NGO Save Aravali.“The authorities don’t want to make any security arrangements for wildlife as they don’t want to highlight the presence of wildlife here. The ignorance, however, has led to a rise in the cases of roadkill and thus the destruction of the rich fauna of the Aravalis,” Rao added, ruefully.District forest department officials say they have advised construction of a tunnel for safe passage of wildlife. “Building a simple, green underground tunnel is not rocket science. While it is true that building a wildlife corridor will require a lot of land, which is not available here, a wildlife tunnel or passage can easily be built — if the passage is as green as forests around, wild animals will definitely use this to cross the road,” explains R P Balwan, former conservator of forests, Gurugram Circle.Nothing, however, has come of this suggestion. “Since the time the Gurugram-Faridabad road has been widened, the forest department raised a demand to build such passages. However, the proposals never saw the light of day,” Balwan added.Incidentally, Asola Bhatti, located on the southeastern edge of Delhi, is home to many indigenous flora and fauna species. Rajasthan, meanwhile, took the initiative to protect wildlife by declaring a wildlife sanctuary, Sariska, covering an area of 866 square kilometres. The Haryana government, on the other hand, has done little to safeguard the expanse of Aravalis between Asola and Sariska, even though this section of the range acts as an important wildlife corridor.In 2017, a study conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) confirmed the presence of 10 carnivore species in the Aravalis of south Haryana. In its recommendations, the WII study called for prioritising conservation in Mangar Bani and other areas contiguous to the Gurugram-Faridabad road, describing these as the “last remnants” for wildlife here. “The highway can be considered a priority conservation site, because of the fact that it is located amidst the reckless development in this region,” it states.

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