Furnish Rs 2cr guarantee to Environment Ministry in Rajaji tiger case: NGT to NHAI

Irked by failure of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to comply with a Supreme Court directive to construct an 'elephant flyover', the National Green Tribunal (NGT) Friday asked the NHAI to furnish a Rs 2 crore 'performance guarantee' to the Environment Ministry within one month.

The 731-m long Chilla Motichur elephant flyover was proposed to be built inside the Rajaji National Park nine years ago.

An NGT bench headed by Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel observed that wildlife, biodiversity and environment of the western side of Rajaji National Park was in danger due to a red tape attitude of NHAI and tigers were facing extinction due to a delay in construction of the flyover at Chilla Motichur corridor of the national highway that passes through the park.

Centre for Wildlife and Environmental Litigation (CWEL) filed a case for the protection and conservation of tigers in the park and stated that tigers were getting locally extinct due to the disturbances between eastern and western side of Rajaji National Park.

Disposing a petition by CWEL, the NGT said that it is important to note that western side of Rajaji National park has the potential to support a minimum of 30 tigers but attitude of MOEF and NHAI, tigers are getting locally extinct.

CWEL in its petition has alleged that the Supreme Court in 2009 had directed construction of Chilla Motichur corridor but the callous attitudes of NHAI date construction had not been completed till date resulting in local extinction of tigers in the park.