Kaziranga Elevated Corridor Project, Objectives, Significance

Why in News?

Recently, the Prime Minister, during his Assam visit, laid the foundational stone of the Kaziranga Elevated Corridor of worth over 6,950 Crore in Kaliabor, Assam. During the Programme, two new Amrit Bharat Express trains were also flagged off.

About the Kaziranga Elevated Corridor Project

Kaziranga Elevated Corridor Project is a four-lane 86 km long environment-friendly highway project that will pass through the Kaziranga National Park and widen the existing NH-7155 from two to four lanes. It will enhance the connectivity and people’s movement while protecting the biodiversity and the environment.

• Vision:  To enhance the connectivity across upper Assam, while protecting the rich biodiversity of the region.
• Location: The project will connect the Nagaon, Kharbi Anglong and Golaghat districts of Upper Assam.
• The project will ensure uninterrupted movements of the animals, lessen the human-wildlife conflicts and will enhance the road safety.
• The project will features 35km of Elevated corridor that will pass through the Kazirang Park, 21 km of Bypass section and 30 km of further widening of the two lane highway section of NH-715 to four lanes.

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Kaziranga Elevated Corridor Project Objectives

The objectives of the Kaziranga Elevated Corridor Project is given below:

• Ensure free flow of people and wildlife, and material.
• Reduce the human-wildlife conflicts.
• Strengthen road safety and reduce travel and accident rates.
• Improve the connectivity of the upper Assam, specifically Dibrugarh and Tinsukia.
• It will support growing passenger and freight traffic.
• The bypasses will decongest the towns, improve urban mobility and enhance the quality of rural and local residents.
• The project will be developed on an Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode.

Kaziranga Elevated Corridor Project Significance

• Protect the UNESCO world heritage site while also ensuring the development of the region.
• Promote tourism with sustainable development principles and will also generate employment opportunities for the local and the youths.
• It will further protect the one-horned Rhino, the flagship specie of Kaziranga National Park.
• During the monsoon the park gets flooded, which force the wildlife movement through the highway leading to congestion and mostly the human-animal conflict, thus the project will ensure a safer movement for both the wildlife and the people.

About Kaziranga National Park

• Kaziranga National Park is located between the Brahmaputra River and the Karbi Hills of Assam, spread over an area of 42,996 Hectares.
• In 1985, it was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
• It is the home of the world’s most one-horned rhinos.
• It is the single largest undisturbed area in the Brahmaputra valley floodplains.
• Covered with tall and dense elephant grasses and inhabitates the Gangetic River dolphin, Tigers, Eastern swamp deer, Elephant, Hoolock gibbon etc.
• The River Diffalu, a tributary of the Brahmaputra flows through the Park.
• Kaziranga is known for successful anti-poaching measures, rhino census programs, and strict protection strategies that have significantly increased wildlife populations.
• Annual floods of the Brahmaputra enrich the soil, maintain wetlands, and help in seed dispersal, playing a critical role in the park’s ecological balance.
• The park and surrounding areas are culturally important, with indigenous communities historically relying on the landscape for sustenance and integrating traditional ecological knowledge in conservation practices.