Vehicles using NH-37 and passing through the Kaziranga National Park, from Friday, would have to pay Rs 5,000 as environmental compensation if they overspeed and killed or injured wild animals on that stretch.
A notification issued on Wednesday by the Assam Forest Department stated that the compensation would be added to the challan for the offence. According to the notification, the speed limit on that stretch of the NH-37 would be 40 kmph and come into force from Friday.
“Every vehicle which is challaned, particularly for overspeeding and for killing/injuring an animal, would be fined an environment compensation of Rs 5,000 per incident, over and above the amount to be paid for (the) offence under Motor Vehicle Act," said the notification issued by Ramesh Kumar Gogoi, divisional forest officer, Eastern Assam Wildlife Division.
Sources said that the speed limit was imposed as per the order of the National Green Tribunal in 2013 and 2014. The directive was issued to ensure smooth and accident-free movement of wild animals along the nine animal corridors through which the national highway passes.
As monsoon rains in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh raise water levels in the hills and inundate Kaziranga National Park, animals are often seen rushing to the Karbi Anglong hills to avoid floods. Many animals are mowed down by vehicles on the highway that runs almost parallel to the Karbi Anglong hills.
While rhinos, elephants and other animals drown in the flooded Kaziranga, many hog deer, wild boar and other native species are killed on the NH-37 while moving towards Karbi Anglong. In 2020, more than 150 animals died in floods and road accidents. In 2022, the number was comparatively less, but still a cause of worry.
Kaziranga has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1985 and is one of the major tourist attractions in Assam—mainly due to the concentrated number of the one-horned rhinoceros (2,613 in 2022 Census). The national park is sandwiched between the Brahmaputra and Karbi Anglong hills.
According to the notification, the forest department has installed six animal sensor cameras equipped with an automatic number plate recognition facility, as well as radar for determining vehicle speed. The cameras already installed along the Kaziranga stretch would be operational from Friday.
Apart from the notification for speeding and killing animals on roads, the Assam government has also taken up a project to build a 35-km elevated corridor on this NH-37 stretch. This is to ensure that wild animals are provided a safe passage to and from Kaziranga, particularly during the floods.