The Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (SC-NBWL) gave in-principle wildlife clearance for a third railway line to be constructed on the Jujharpur (Betul) and Chichonda (Narmadapuram) stretch of the Central Railway, Indian Express reported.
The wildlife clearance was eagerly awaited because this sensitive zone with two Tiger reserves– Satpura in Madhya Pradesh and Melghat in Maharashtra, already has two lines running on it.
A third line would likely put more pressure on the eco-sensitive zone and hence needed through inspection before clearance.
Conditional clearance by the SC-NBWL
Though the clearance is in-principle, the clearing authority has placed conditions that mitigation structures, “such as overpasses for safe passage of wildlife across the rail alignment suggested by the Central Railway are reviewed and finalised based on proper scientific study and engineering designs”.
This third line- 160.5 km, in total, will eventually connect the two remote towns and the two Tiger reserves to the now, four line 290-km stretch between Itarsi (Madhya Pradesh) and Nagpur (Maharashtra), the report stated.
The Itarsi (West Central Railway Zone)-Nagpur (part of both Central and South East Central Railway Zones) is one of the busiest and most scenic railway routes in the country, passing through the wilderness of Southern Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.
All the requirements for construction
Apart from the clearance, which was the biggest hurdle, the construction requires sign offs on 206.09 hectares of land – 74.69 hectares of forest land and 131.4 hectares of non-forest land as well. A total of 34 wildlife overpasses along the rail line alignment are also required to be constructed.
According to the Express report, a committee that inspected the alignment sites noted in its report to the SC-NBWL that the forest stretch and corridors are a lifeline for the Satpura-Pench-Melghat landscape, and hence the project should be seen in the context of current and future perspectives.
The site inspection was carried out by officials from the Railways, Union Environment Ministry, a scientist from the Wildlife Institute of India, and an official from the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
However, Central Railway, noted that a comprehensive scientific assessment of the likely impacts of the project and the appropriate landscape-level mitigation measures had not been completed. To make sure there were no lapses, State Forest Research Institute, Jabalpur was entrusted with the study, and its report was awaited, the IE reported.
Revisit of the inspection committee
The Chief Wildlife Warden of Madhya Pradesh, Dr Samita Rajora had informed the wildlife board panel that the state forest research institute had submitted a detailed report on mitigation measures and it was under consideration.
The SC-NBWL further directed that upon receipt and examination of the scientific study and other relevant data, the site inspection committee shall revisit the project area and submit definitive recommendations regarding the location, dimensions, design and connectivity of the wildlife mitigation structures, the IE report stated.
Why do railway lines through tiger reserves matter?
Madhya Pradesh, home to the country’s largest tiger population, has also seen train accidents emerge as the second-biggest killer of the big cats after poaching. Conservationists have flagged the Katni-Singrauli railway line, which cuts through the Sanjay-Dubri Tiger Reserve, as one such trouble spot — the stretch has recorded at least 39 wild animal deaths since 2010, including a tigress.
A 2022 CAG audit of the state’s wildlife conservation efforts found that mitigation measures such as underpasses and overpasses ordered by the State Wildlife Board back in 2017 were never properly mapped, geotagged or verified as built.
Separately, in July 2024, three tiger cubs were hit by a train near Midghat station, about 70 km from Bhopal — one died on the spot, and the other two succumbed during treatment.
Given this record, the mitigation conditions attached to the new Betul-Narmadapuram line’s clearance — including the 34 wildlife overpasses and the scientific review the SC-NBWL has insisted on — will be closely watched.