Odisha’s first-ever animal overpass on railway tracks will come up in the Kapilash wildlife sanctuary in Dhenkanal district with an objective to facilitate the safe passage of wildlife, especially that of elephants in the area.

As the railway line passes through the sanctuary connecting Cuttack and Talcher, it poses a constant threat to the life of the pachyderms and other animals.

Divisional forest officer of Dhenkanal, Prakash Chand Gogineni, told The Telegraph: “This is an important passage for the elephants. One tusker died after being hit by a moving train. Considering this, with the support of the railways, we will construct the passage.”

The railway line passing through the sanctuary. The Telegraph

He said: “The passage has received the nod of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII). A team from the WII recently visited the area and studied the feasibility.

The construction work will begin in the next two to three months. As per the plan, an overpass of 100 metres’ length with 2-metre-thick soil over it would be constructed. It has been proposed as the animal passage structure to maintain connectivity in the sanctuary.

The structure designs have already been approved.”

Paragliders take part in the 1st Meghalaya National Paragliding Accuracy Championship 2022 at Kharkutta on Friday. PTI Photo

“The construction of an overpass as a mitigation structure in the compartment of one of the Kapilash wildlife sanctuary is feasible and may serve the purpose of connecting the wildlife sanctuary with the larger surrounding landscape including that of the eco sensitive zone of the sanctuary,” a forest official said.

The terrain will facilitate the easy construction of an overpass, as either side of the tracks are already elevated and well above the electric wires.

The official said in order to ensure that elephants and other wildlife use the overpass and to prevent elephants from crossing the railway line outside of the overpass, the railway lines on either side of the overpass to the span of 1.5km will be barricaded.

Paragliders take part in the 1st Meghalaya National Paragliding Accuracy Championship 2022. PTI Photo

Besides, unwanted growth along the strip of transmission line will be eradicated and food availability for herbivorous will be improved.

“The said land (overpass) will be managed as suitable habitat for wild life for restoring it under fodder species such as grasses and small to medium size trees depending on the climactic conditions and requirements. In some cases, the strip can be managed as a forest fire

line and the said land should be covered by evergreen shrubs depending on the climatic conditions,” the official said.