Kaziranga elevated corridor to boost wildlife safety, regional connectivity: PM Modi to lay foundation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Sunday lay the foundation stone of the Kaziranga elevated corridor project, a flagship infrastructure initiative aimed at ensuring safe wildlife movement across Kaziranga National Park while improving road connectivity and boosting ecotourism in Assam, officials said.

The Rs 6,957-crore project seeks to reduce accidents on National Highway-37 (new NH-715), which runs along the southern boundary of the UNESCO World Heritage Site and has long posed risks to both wildlife and commuters. The project includes four-laning of the 86.675-km Kaliabor–Numaligarh stretch of the highway, of which around 34.45 km will be developed as an elevated corridor, along with bypasses at Jakhalabandha and Bokakhat.

Wildlife experts have underlined the importance of dedicated corridors to enable the safe and peaceful movement of animals, particularly umbrella species such as elephants and tigers, whose protection helps conserve entire ecosystems. Kaziranga lies in a dynamic floodplain ecosystem, where annual monsoon flooding of the Brahmaputra forces animals to move towards the higher forests of the Karbi Anglong Hills. In the absence of safe crossings, this seasonal movement has historically resulted in frequent wildlife fatalities on NH-37.

The elevated corridor will allow uninterrupted passage beneath the roadway, reducing stress, injury, and mortality among wildlife, while facilitating seasonal migration, dispersal of young animals, and genetic exchange crucial for species that require large, connected landscapes to survive.

Kaziranga does not exist in isolation but forms the core of a wider network of protected areas across Assam. It is ecologically linked to the Karbi Anglong Wildlife Sanctuary and East Karbi Anglong Wildlife Sanctuary, which serve as vital high-ground refuges during floods, and further connected to Orang and Nameri national parks through forest corridors along the Brahmaputra floodplains. By restoring this broken connectivity, the elevated corridor strengthens Assam’s broader tiger and elephant conservation landscape.

Designed in compliance with Supreme Court directions and recommendations of the Wildlife Institute of India, the project has been approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs and will be implemented by the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Construction is expected to be completed within 36 months.

Ahead of the foundation-laying ceremony, the Prime Minister said in a post on X that the 35-km elevated corridor across Kaziranga would go a long way in safeguarding animals, particularly during the monsoon season. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma described the project as a landmark step towards protecting wildlife while strengthening connectivity in the region.

Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve is globally renowned for its rich biodiversity, including the world’s largest population of one-horned rhinoceroses, along with tigers, elephants, wild water buffalo, and swamp deer, spread across extensive grasslands, forests, and wetlands of the Brahmaputra floodplains.