The Union environment ministry’s forest advisory committee has granted in-principle forest clearance for a new railway line through the Satpura-Melghat tiger corridor, a critical stretch that provides a safe pathway for wildlife, including tigers, sloth bear, leopards, and deer. The third railway line between the Jujharpur-Dhodramohar section falls on the Central Railway’s busy Itarsi-Nagpur route. This railway line is a key segment of the high-density Rajdhani corridor connecting New Delhi with Chennai, Secunderabad, Bengaluru, and Thiruvananthapuram.
The Centre has approved the construction of a third line between Jujharpur and Dhodramohar to be implemented by Central Railway, Nagpur Division, to enhance carrying capacity. The Central Railway proposal sought diversion of 8.0357 hectares of forest land, including in forest compartments in the wildlife corridor between Satpura and Melghat tiger reserves. The in-principle or Stage-I clearance was granted on the condition that final approval will be granted only after this railway line section, along with two others on the Itarsi-Nagpur route, gets wildlife clearance from the standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife.
No working permission or authorisation for works on forest land is to be granted until final forest clearance is issued. In March this year, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), the Wildlife Institute of India, the Madhya Pradesh forest department, and the railways carried out a joint inspection to assess alignment of proposed mitigation measures, such as wildlife overpasses, recommended to prevent wildlife mortality on railway tracks. NTCA officials said several overpasses have been recommended by the Wildlife Institute of India, and following the joint inspection, certain tweaks and modifications were suggested.
The Itarsi-Nagpur line and the Ballarshah-Gondia railway routes witness several wildlife deaths annually, making the incorporation of mitigation structures such as overpasses and underpasses crucial. The railway line passes through Narmadapuram (formerly Hoshangabad), Chhindwara, Pandhurna, and Betul districts in Madhya Pradesh and Nagpur district in Maharashtra. The forest advisory committee stated in the minutes of the June 10 meeting that final approval will be granted only after the railway line section gets wildlife clearance from the standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife.
