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A highway to hell: a proposed, inessential, 6-lane highway (NH173) that threatens the forest and wildlife corridors of the ,

H.S. Sathya Chandra Sagar & Mrunmayee

26 October 2020 | Vol. 12 | No. 14 | Pages: 16944–16953 DOI: 10.11609/jot.5957.12.14.16944-16953

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Threatened Taxa Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 October 2020 | 12(14): 16944–16953 ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) PLATINUM OPEN ACCESS DOI: htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.5957.12.14.16944-16953

#5957 | Received 07 April 2020 | Final received 04 July 2020 | Finally accepted 11 September 2020

C o m m A highway to hell: a proposed, inessental, 6-lane highway (NH173) u n i that threatens the forest and wildlife corridors of the Western Ghats, India c a 1 2 t H.S. Sathya Chandra Sagar & Mrunmayee i o 1,2 Wildlife Conservaton and Nature Educaton (WildCANE) - Jakkanahalli Post, Mallandur, Chikkamagaluru, 577130, India n 1 [email protected] (corresponding author), 2 [email protected]

, , , Abstract:Kannada abstract: A globally, "ಾಗ%ಕ extensiveಮಟ)ದ+, -ಾ.ಪಕ-ಾ0ರುವ road networkರLೆ>ಗಳ combinedಸಂಪಕ< ಮತು> with4ೆ?ಾ@ಗು%>ರುವ increasing-ಾ vehicularಹನಗಳ ಸಂ?ಾರವC trafcಸDEೕಯ posesವನ.HೕI a signifcantಪ8ಸರ ಆK<ಕ threatಮತು> toLಾMಾHಕ local wildlife,ವ.ವLೆDಯ environment,NೕOೆ ವ.%8ಕ>-ಾದ economy, ಪ8PಾಮವನುQ and Rೕರುತ>6ೆ socio-politcs.. Sಾರತದ+,ನ India,ರLೆ>ಗಳT with, ಸುMಾರು nearly 5.9 ದಶಲW5.9 million XOೋZೕಟ[ kilometers ಗಳಷು) I]>ೕರಣವನುQof road, has 4ೊಂ_ದು7 the second-highest, IಶÖದ+, ಎರಡdೇ ಅ%6ೊಡe road network ರLೆ> ಸಂಪಕ< in the4ೊಂ_ರುವ world; 6ೇಶ-ಾ06ೆ and has. ಅhೆ)ೕ plans ಅಲ,6ೆ to, ಇನೂQexponentally 4ೆj@ನ ಸಂkೆ.ಯ+, increase lಾmnೕಯ its 4ೆ6ಾ78ಗಳ natonal oMಾ<ಣ highways. pೕಜdೆಯನುQ In this 4ಾXrೊಂs6ೆ study, we. rೆಳಕಂಡ use a ಅಧ.ಯನದ+, combinaton, ಪ`Lಾ>uತ of collaton ಷಟv_ lಾmnೕಯ of ofcial 4ೆ6ಾ78 documents, literature review, and GIS mapping to outline the possible environmental and socio-economic impacts caused by a proposed pೕಜdೆwಂದ (NH 173), ಪ8ಸರ, LಾMಾHಕ ಮತು> ಆK<ಕ ವ.ವLೆDಯ NೕOೆ Rೕಳಬಹು6ಾದ ಪ8Pಾಮಗಳ ರೂಪlೇಖವನುQ, ಸrಾ<8 ಸಂpೕHತ 6ಾಖOೆಗಳT, Oೇಖನ Iಮzೆ< 4ಾಗೂ H 6-lane natonal highway (NH 173). This highway is set . to cut through the low elevaton evergreen forests of the central Western Ghats betweenಐ ಎ| lೇkಾjತ`ಗಳನುQ Mudigere andಅಧ.ಯನ NelliyadiMಾಡುವCದರ townsಮೂಲಕ of Chikkamagaluru%E]ರು}ೆ>ೕ-ೆ Sಾರತ and6ೇಶದ Dakshinaಕdಾ<ಟಕ Kannadalಾಜ.ದ jಕ~ಮಗಳರು districts, ofHOೆ,ಯ KarnatakaSಾಗ-ಾದ State,ಮೂsÄೆlೆ respectvely.4ಾಗೂ ದÅಣ WeಕನQಡ furtherHOೆ,ಯ outlineSಾಗ-ಾದ the dೆOಾ.s insignifcance ಮÇೆ. ಇರುವ, ofಪÉ@ಮ the ಘಟ)ಗಳ project ಕsN and ಎತ>ರದ recommend oತ. ಹ8ದÖಣ< workable rಾಡುಗಳ alternatves ಮೂಲಕ ಈ 4ೆ6ಾ78ಯು that could 4ಾದು be 4ೋಗುವCದನುQ considered ಪ`Lಾ>uಸOಾ06ೆ in the wider. ಅದಲ,6ೆpublic’s, ಇದು interest. ಮಹತÖáೕನ pೕಜdೆ ಎಂಬುದನುQ %Eಸು}ಾ>, Lಾವ<ಜoಕ á}ಾಸX>ಯನುQ rಾuಡುವ ದೃm)wಂದ, ಇದrೆ~ ಪâಾ<ಯ ವ.ವLೆDಯನೂQ ಸೂjಸOಾ0ರುತ>6ೆ. Keywords: Conservaton, forest, India, linear intrusion, road, roadkill, wildlife.

Kannada abstract: "ಾಗ%ಕ ಮಟ)ದ+,, -ಾ.ಪಕ-ಾ0ರುವ ರLೆ>ಗಳ ಸಂಪಕ< ಮತು> 4ೆ?ಾ@ಗು%>ರುವ -ಾಹನಗಳ ಸಂ?ಾರವC ಸDEೕಯ ವನ.HೕI, ಪ8ಸರ, ಆK<ಕ ಮತು> LಾMಾHಕ ವ.ವLೆDಯ NೕOೆ ವ.%8ಕ>-ಾದ ಪ8PಾಮವನುQ Rೕರುತ>6ೆ. Sಾರತದ+,ನ ರLೆ>ಗಳT, ಸುMಾರು 5.9 ದಶಲW XOೋZೕಟ[ ಗಳಷು) I]>ೕರಣವನುQ 4ೊಂ_ದು7, IಶÖದ+, ಎರಡdೇ ಅ%6ೊಡe ರLೆ> ಸಂಪಕ< 4ೊಂ_ರುವ 6ೇಶ-ಾ06ೆ. ಅhೆ)ೕ ಅಲ,6ೆ, ಇನೂQ 4ೆj@ನ ಸಂkೆ.ಯ+, lಾmnೕಯ 4ೆ6ಾ78ಗಳ oMಾ<ಣ pೕಜdೆಯನುQ 4ಾXrೊಂs6ೆ. rೆಳಕಂಡ ಅಧ.ಯನದ+,, ಪ`Lಾ>uತ ಷಟv_ lಾmnೕಯ 4ೆ6ಾ78 pೕಜdೆwಂದ (NH 173), ಪ8ಸರ, LಾMಾHಕ ಮತು> ಆK<ಕ ವ.ವLೆDಯ NೕOೆ Rೕಳಬಹು6ಾದ ಪ8Pಾಮಗಳ ರೂಪlೇಖವನುQ, ಸrಾ<8 ಸಂpೕHತ 6ಾಖOೆಗಳT, Oೇಖನ Iಮzೆ< 4ಾಗೂ H ಐ ಎ| lೇkಾjತ`ಗಳನುQ ಅಧ.ಯನ MಾಡುವCದರ ಮೂಲಕ %E]ರು}ೆ>ೕ-ೆ. Sಾರತ 6ೇಶದ ಕdಾ<ಟಕ lಾಜ.ದ jಕ~ಮಗಳರು HOೆ,ಯ Sಾಗ-ಾದ ಮೂsÄೆlೆ 4ಾಗೂ ದÅಣ ಕನQಡ HOೆ,ಯ Sಾಗ-ಾದ dೆOಾ.s ಮÇೆ. ಇರುವ, ಪÉ@ಮ ಘಟ)ಗಳ ಕsN ಎತ>ರದ oತ. ಹ8ದÖಣ< rಾಡುಗಳ ಮೂಲಕ ಈ 4ೆ6ಾ78ಯು 4ಾದು 4ೋಗುವCದನುQ ಪ`Lಾ>uಸOಾ06ೆ. ಅದಲ,6ೆ, ಇದು ಮಹತÖáೕನ pೕಜdೆ ಎಂಬುದನುQ %Eಸು}ಾ>, Lಾವ<ಜoಕ á}ಾಸX>ಯನುQ rಾuಡುವ ದೃm)wಂದ, ಇದrೆ~ ಪâಾ<ಯ ವ.ವLೆDಯನೂQ ಸೂjಸOಾ0ರುತ>6ೆ.

Editor: Anonymity requested. Date of publicaton: 26 October 2020 (online & print)

Citaton: Sagar, H.S.S.C. & Mrunmayee (2020). A highway to hell: a proposed, inessental, 6-lane highway (NH173) that threatens the forest and wildlife corridors of the Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 12(14): 16944–16953. htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.5957.12.14.16944-16953

Copyright: © Sagar & Mrunmayee 2020. Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproducton, and distributon of this artcle in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaton.

Funding: We did not use any external funding for this study.

Competng interests: The authors declare no competng interests.

Data and materials availability: Compensaton data collected using RTI Act, which was used to create Fig. 2, has been atached in supplementary material under Appendix 5.

Author details: H.S. Sathya Chandra Sagar is a conservaton scientst and a feld biologist. He is interested in understanding the ecological impacts of various human actvites and the efectveness of conservaton practces to protect biodiversity in tropical forests. He is currently a graduate (PhD) researcher at the Sound Forest Lab at the Nelson Insttue and the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin - Madison. Mrunmayee is a conservatonist from Chikkamagaluru of India and the Executve Director of WildCANE, a grassroots NGO working in the Bhadra landscape of Western Ghats of India. She has been involved in conservaton eforts for over 13 years in various capacites in India and is currently pursuing MPhil in Conservaton Leadership course as part of the 2020-21 cohort at the University of Cambridge.

Author contributon: Both the authors conceived the idea, HSSCS primarily wrote the paper and both the authors contributed to the fnal manuscript.

Acknowledgements: We thank all our associates for their constant support, guidance and inputs for the manuscript. We thank Praneeth K Sargur for translatng the abstract to Kannada language. We also thank the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments.

16944 J TT A highway to hell: a proposed, inessental, 6-lane highway (NH173) Sagar & Mrunmayee

INTRODUCTION 2011; Alamgir et al. 2017). These areas hold one of the highest populatons of Asiatc Elephants and also India has the second-highest road network in has been identfed as an important Tiger corridor the world with nearly 5.9 million kilometers of road (Appendix 2; Elephant Task Force 2012; Qureshi et al. (MRTH 2019). Between the years 2018 and 2019, with 2014; Project Elephant Division 2017). Along with these 10,855km added to the existng highway network, India charismatc and threatened mega-fauna, these RFs are had a 10% increase in natonal highways compared to home to fve species of birds, nine species of reptles, the previous year (MRTH 2019). Even with increased and 23 species of mammals (Appendix 4), listed under fuel economy standards, technological advancements, schedule I and II of the Indian Wildlife (Protecton) Act and contnued roadway constructons, India’s vehicular 1972, giving them the highest protecton under Indian trafc is expected to grow signifcantly beyond the law (WII-ENVIS 2014; IUCN 2019). In additon, this year 2050 (Dulac 2013). Globally, such extensive road landscape hosts an array of globally threatened and network combined with increasing vehicular trafc has endemic species of fora and fauna (Myers et al. 2000; been identfed as a signifcant threat to local wildlife, UNESCO WHC 2012). The proposed highway, with high environment, economy, socio-politcs, and indigenous speeding vehicles, would disrupt wildlife movement, culture & traditons (Goosem et al. 2010; Alamgir et al. especially of Asiatc Elephants, potentally worsening 2017). the existng acute human-elephant interactons in the One such road is the proposed 6-lane natonal region (Fig. 2, Appendix 5); this threatens the safety of highway (NH-173) between Mudigere and Nelliyadi both the local community and wildlife (Puyravaud et al. towns of Chikkamagaluru and Dakshina Kannada 2019). Opening up this relatvely undisturbed patch of districts, of Karnataka State, respectvely (hereafer forest with no current access would inevitably lead to Shishila Byrapura (SB) highway) to connect the coastal an increase in wildlife mortality through collision with town of Bantwal with Chitradurga in southern India, speeding vehicles (Baskaran & Boominathan 2010; through an entrely new alignment (NHAI 2018) (Fig. Raman 2011) and could provide access to poachers and 1). The entre project of 233km has been split into four smugglers to indulge in the illegal trade of wildlife and workable packages, each under 100km (NHAI 2018). deforestaton (Wilkie et al. 2000; Hughes 2018). The Among them is the 68.9km stretch between Mudigere constructon of a highway has also been linked to the and Nelliyadi, with no existng highway in the alignment. spreading of invasive species such as Lantana camara With a budget of 25 billion INR (330 million USD at 1 and Eupatorium Chromolaena odorata and cause forest USD = 75.698 INR), the project is set to connect this fres due to an increase in fuel loads from invasive alien stretch, currently without any motorable road between species (Goosem et al. 2010; Raman 2011). At the same Byrapura Village near Mudigere and Shishila Village near tme, roads and highways lead to a change in animal Nelliyadi; where the mean elevaton changes nearly behaviour where a few species will be atracted to the 800m, within just 21.9km (Image 1). SB highway is set to roads for scrap food from travelers while others would cut across contguous forest patches of central Western avoid regular movement, afectng their genetc diversity Ghats – a biodiversity hotspot and a UNESCO world (Trombulak & Frissell 2000; Holderegger & Di Giulio heritage site (Myers et al. 2000; WHC 2012) (Appendix 2010). 1). Here we outline the inevitable socio-economic and The area between Mudigere and Nelliyadi that environmental disaster expected to be caused by the is proposed for the constructon of the SB highway project, its insignifcance, and the recommendaton of lies on the high and moderate landslide susceptbility workable alternatves. areas (Gupta & Basu 2017) (Appendix 3). The highway is also planned to pass along the Kapila River, one of Environmental and socio-economic impacts the main feeders for the Nethravathi River system – a The highway is set to fragment a contguous stretch major river that provides water to millions of people of forest, protected under seven reserve forests (RFs), and agrarian systems. Road constructon, partcularly which connects Bhadra Tiger Reserve, Kudremukha in steep landscapes are associated with increased Natonal Park, and Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary frequency of landslides and soil erosion (Goosem et (Appendix 1). Building a 30m wide highway with crash al. 2010), resultng in heavy pulses of sediment into barriers and other road safety features as proposed streams (Beevers et al. 2012). Thus, constructon of the under the project could act as blockades for the SB highway would worsen the landslide susceptbility, movement and seasonal migraton of wildlife (Raman also damaging the water catchment of the Nethravathi

Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 October 2020 | 12(14): 16944–16953 16945 J TT A highway to hell: a proposed, inessental, 6-lane highway (NH173) Sagar & Mrunmayee

Figure 1. The proposed 6-lane Shishila Byrapura (SB) highway (coloured in red) between Mudigere in Chikkamagaluru District and Nelliyadi in Dakshina Kannada District, of Karnataka State. Three existng highways passing through the region that connects Chitradurga to Bantwal. The SB highway is set to further cut through a contguous forest that connects Bhadra Tiger Reserve, Kudremukha Natonal Park and Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary. Details regarding SB highway were collected mainly from the open-access forest clearance web portal, submited by the Natonal Highway Authority of India (NHAI). All mapping was done using the QGIS sofware version 3.4.11-Madeira (QGIS Development Team 2019).

River system (Gupta & Basu 2017). The problem would Insignifcance of the project and recommended escalate during the monsoon period, causing irreversible alternatves damage to wildlife, the local community, and economy SB highway has been proposed for constructon as seen during the monsoon of 2018 and 2019 at various without due consideraton of environmental and socio- parts of the Western Ghats (Ghosh 2018; Mrunmayee economic factors, statng that habitat fragmentaton is & Girish 2019). Moreover, a 4-year long process of unavoidable; however, the proposed alignment of the constructng a 70km highway through the forested highway is parallel to two existng highways (Fig. 1); and landscape using earthmovers and blastng machinery, most other roads between Bantwal and Chitradurga, by itself, may permanently damage the area and disrupt are being widened and upgraded to natonal highways. wildlife movement. No amount of economic benefts, Furthermore, the alternatve highway alignments that compensatory aforestaton, or fnancial allowance can we propose are existng roads that are already being outweigh or equal the exceptonal value of these old- upgraded and almost trace the proposed highway. By growth natural forests (Watson et al. 2018). tracing our proposed alignment, Nelliyadi – Sakaleshpura – Belur – Chikkamagaluru – Chitradurga (Fig. 3, Appendix 6), we could: a) halt the environmental and socio- economic impacts from the newly proposed SB highway; and b) save the needless expenditure of 25 billion INR of

16946 Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 October 2020 | 12(14): 16944–16953 J TT A highway to hell: a proposed, inessental, 6-lane highway (NH173) Sagar & Mrunmayee

© Sharath IM

Image 1. A picture of the old-growth lowland evergreen rainforest landscape through which the proposed 6-lane Shishila Byrapura (SB) highway is set to pass through. taxpayer’s money on an unnecessary project. between Mudigere and Nelliyadi through the old-growth and sensitve forests, under a proposed new alignment. This is because, there are suitable alternatves with CONCLUSION signifcantly lower impacts (Fig. 3, Appendix 6), which we strongly urge the Government of India to re-examine. Under the current global biodiversity crisis and Considering all the potental environmental and socio- climate emergency, protecton of natural forests and economic impacts from the proposed SB highway, we landscape is crucial now, more than ever before (Watson request the concerned authorites to take necessary et al. 2018; Lewis et al. 2019). Increasing evidence also actons to consider alternatve optons. shows that inviolate spaces help in wildlife conservaton and reduce human-wildlife confict (Goswami et al. 2014; Srivathsa et al. 2014). It is evident that the constructon REFERENCES of the proposed SB highway would lead to (a) habitat Alamgir, M., M.J. Campbell, S. Sloan, M. Goosem, G.R. Clements, destructon and fragmentaton (Appendix 1), (b) threaten M.I. Mahmoud & W.F. Laurance (2017). Economic, socio-politcal the survival of 37 species of schedule I and II animals and environmental risks of road development in the tropics. potentally found in the region (Appendix 4), (c) worsen Current Biology 27(20): PR1130–R1140. htps://doi.org/10.1016/j. cub.2017.08.067 the existng acute human-elephant interactons in the Baskaran, N. & D. Boominathan (2010). Roadkill of animals by region (Fig. 2), and (d) cause an array of environmental highway trafc in the tropical forests of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, southern India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 2(3): 753–759. htps:// and socio-economic disasters. We see no requirement doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o2101.753-9 for a parallel and a completely new 6-lane highway Beevers, L., W. Douven, H. Lazuardi & H. Verheij (2012). Cumulatve

Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 October 2020 | 12(14): 16944–16953 16947 J TT A highway to hell: a proposed, inessental, 6-lane highway (NH173) Sagar & Mrunmayee

Figure 2. The number of compensatons given at village level, by the Karnataka Forest Department (KFD), Government of India, for the elephant caused crop loss between the year 2010 and 2018. Here the compensaton data is shown only for the taluk of Mudigere in Chikkamagaluru (light green to dark red), through which the proposed 6-lane Shishila Byrapura (SB) highway (dark blue line) is set to pass; all other villages are coloured in light grey. It is evident from the map that, the proposed highway cuts through the villages with high human-elephant confict. If completed, the SB highway would potentally lead to an increase in the human-elephant negatve interactons in the region. Details regarding the compensaton were collated through writen requests to KFD.

Figure 3. The existng highway routes that are being upgraded that can be used as an alternatve (blue lines) to the proposed new 6-lane SB- highway (red line).

16948 Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 October 2020 | 12(14): 16944–16953 J TT A highway to hell: a proposed, inessental, 6-lane highway (NH173) Sagar & Mrunmayee

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Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 October 2020 | 12(14): 16944–16953 16949 J TT A highway to hell: a proposed, inessental, 6-lane highway (NH173) Sagar & Mrunmayee

Appendix 1. The proposed Shishila Byrapura (SB) highway, which is set to cut through seven contguous Reserve Forests (RF) in the Central Western Ghats namely: Balur RF, Kabbinale RF, RF, Porkal RF, Shiradi RF, Shishila RF, Shibaje RF. These RFs are contguous and their various names are given by the Forest Department, Government of India, according to their administratve circles.

Appendix 2. The extent of the Tiger corridor notfed by the Natonal Tiger Conservaton Authority (NTCA) of India as per the report submited by Qureshi et al (2014).

16950 Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 October 2020 | 12(14): 16944–16953 J TT A highway to hell: a proposed, inessental, 6-lane highway (NH173) Sagar & Mrunmayee

Appendix 3. The landslide susceptbility of the proposed area through which the proposed Shishila Byrapura (SB) highway secton of the NH173, is set to be newly constructed, as measured by the Geological Survey of India, Government of India. It is evident that the stretch passing through the Byrapura region passes almost entrely through Medium and High landslide susceptbility areas.

Appendix 4. Species listed under Schedule I and II of the Indian Wildlife (Protecton) Act, 1972, that are found in the landscape where the proposed Shishila Byrapura (SB) highway secton of the NH173, is set to be newly constructed.

Taxa Common name Scientfc name Schedule

Birds Great Pied Hornbill Buceros bicornis I

Birds Indian Pied Hornbill Anthracoceros malabaricus I

Birds Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus I

Birds Osprey Pandion haliaetus I

Birds Southern Hill Myna Gracula indica I

Mammals Gaur Bos gaurus I

Mammals Malabar Civet Viverra civetna I

Mammals Elephant Elephas maximus I

Mammals Leopard Panthera pardus I

Mammals Leopard Cat Prionailurus bengalensis I

Mammals Gray Slender Loris Loris lydekkerianus I

Mammals Indian Mouse Deer Moschiola indica I

Mammals Indian Pangolin Manis crassicaudata I

Mammals Asian Small-clawed Oter Aonyx cinereus I

Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 October 2020 | 12(14): 16944–16953 16951 J TT A highway to hell: a proposed, inessental, 6-lane highway (NH173) Sagar & Mrunmayee

Taxa Common name Scientfc name Schedule

Mammals Sloth Bear Melursus ursinus I

Mammals Tiger Panthera tgris I

Mammals Bonnet Macaque Macaca radiata II

Mammals Dark-legged Malabar Langur Semnopithecus hypoleucos II

Mammals Dhole / Asiatc Wild Dog Cuon alpinus II

Mammals Brown Palm Civet Paradoxurus jerdoni II

Mammals Common Palm Civet Paradoxurus hermaphroditus II

Mammals Small Indian Civet Viverricula indica II

Mammals Indian Giant Squirrel Ratufa indica II

Mammals Jackal Canis aureus II

Mammals Jungle Cat Felis chaus II

Mammals Brown Mongoose Herpestes brachyurus II

Mammals Common Mongoose Herpestes edwardsii II

Mammals Stripe-necked Mongoose Herpestes vitcollis II

Reptles Indian Flapshell Turtle Lissemys punctata I

Reptles Large Bengal Monitor Lizard Varanus bengalensis I

Reptles Indian Python Python molurus I

Reptles Indian Chameleon Chamaeleo zeylanicus II

Reptles Checkered Keelback Xenochrophis piscator II

Reptles King Cobra Ophiophagus hannah II

Reptles Indian Rat Snake Ptyas mucosa II

Reptles Spectacled Cobra Naja naja II

Appendix 5. The total number of compensaton at the village level, for the elephant-caused crop loss within Mudigere Taluk of Chikkamagaluru District, given by the Karnataka Forest Department (KFD), Government of India. These villages are part of the region through with the proposed 6-lane highway Shishila Byrapura (SB) highway of NH173 is set to pass through. We collated the informaton on the compensaton number through writen requests to KFD. The economic value of each compensaton might vary based on the intensity of the crop loss faced by individual farmers. At the village level, however, we have summed the number of cases to get the total number across eight years (2010–2018), irrespectve of the economic value received.

Total number of compensaton Total number of compensaton Village names (2010–18) Village names (2010–18) Vurubage 580 Meguru 101

B.Hosahalli 540 Beranagodu 99

Kundhuru 492 Maddrahalli 86

Guthi 386 Mekanagadde 85

Bankenahalli 290 Tathkola 81

Byrapura 285 Tharuve 80

Kogile 242 Koove 69

Bidarahalli 179 Byduvalli 49

Hosakere 175 Hesagodu 48

Saragodu 173 Darshana 46

Kenjige 168 Lokavalli 36

Binnadi 165 Hoysalalu 26

Mudhugundi 156 Betagere 24

Palguni 135 Baggasagodu 22

Heggudlu 121 Jogannanakere 21

16952 Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 October 2020 | 12(14): 16944–16953 J TT A highway to hell: a proposed, inessental, 6-lane highway (NH173) Sagar & Mrunmayee

Total number of compensaton Total number of compensaton Village names (2010–18) Village names (2010–18) Kotragere 20 Anajuru 7

Kasaba Banaka 19 Gowdahalli 6

Hemmadhi 18 Kelagodu 4

Halike 16 Kelaguru 4 Kademadakallu Indravalli 14 4 (naduvinamadakallu) Hanumanahalli 11 Kasaba Baluru 3 Tripura 10 Halekote 3 Hadhi Oni 10 Koluru 3 Javali 9 U. Hosahalli 3 Kannagere 9 Gonibeedu Agrahara 2 Kollibylu 7 Kelluru 2 Angadi 7 G Hosalli Agrahara 2

Appendix 6. A descripton of the alternatve routes to the proposed Shishila Byrapura (SB) highway of NH173, using existng roads and highways that could be upgraded/are in due for an upgrade. Natonal highways show the existng highways through which the proposed alternatve route passes. The distance in kilometres is the distance between Bantwal in Dakshina Kannada District to Chitradurga in Chitradurga District, which spans the entre stretch of the project.

Natonal Distance Passing through Locatons Highways (km) 1 Nelliyadi - Sakaleshpura - Belur- Chikkamagaluru -Chitradurga 75; 173 318

2 Nelliyadi - Sakaleshpura - Hanbal - Mudigere - Chikkamagaluru - Chitradurga 75; 173 329

3 Nelliyadi - - - Shimoga - Chitradurga 169; 369 291

Threatened Taxa

Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 October 2020 | 12(14): 16944–16953 16953 PLATINUM The Journal of Threatened Taxa (JoTT) is dedicated to building evidence for conservaton globally by publishing peer-reviewed artcles online every month at a reasonably rapid rate at www.threatenedtaxa.org. OPEN ACCESS All artcles published in JoTT are registered under Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License unless otherwise mentoned. JoTT allows allows unrestricted use, reproducton, and distributon of artcles in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaton.

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)

October 2020 | Vol. 12 | No. 14 | Pages: 16927–17062 Date of Publicaton: 26 October 2020 (Online & Print) www.threatenedtaxa.org DOI: 10.11609/jot.2020.12.14.16927-17062

Artcle Contributon to the macromycetes of West Bengal, India: 63–68 – Rituparna Saha, Debal Ray, Anirban Roy & Krishnendu Acharya, Pp. 17014– Elevatonal patern and seasonality of avian diversity in Kaligandaki River 17023 Basin, central Himalaya – Juna Neupane, Laxman Khanal, Basant Gyawali & Mukesh Kumar Chalise, Pp. 16927–16943 Notes

A rare camera trap record of the Hispid Hare Caprolagus hispidus from Dudhwa Communicatons Tiger Reserve, Terai Arc Landscape, India – Sankarshan Rastogi, Ram Kumar Raj & Bridesh Kumar Chauhan, Pp. 17024– A highway to hell: a proposed, inessental, 6-lane highway (NH173) that 17027 threatens the forest and wildlife corridors of the Western Ghats, India – H.S. Sathya Chandra Sagar & Mrunmayee, Pp. 16944–16953 First distributonal record of the Lesser Adjutant Leptoptlos javanicus Horsfeld, 1821 (Ciconiiformes: Ciconiidae) from Sindhuli District, Nepal Species diversity and feeding guilds of birds in Malaysian agarwood – Badri Baral, Sudeep Bhandari, Saroj Koirala, Parashuram Bhandari, plantatons Ganesh Magar, Dipak Raj Basnet, Jeevan Rai & Hem Sagar Baral, Pp. 17028–17031 – Nor Nasibah Mohd Jamil, Husni Ibrahim, Haniza Hanim Mohd Zain & Nur Hidayat Che Musa, Pp. 16954–16961 First record of African Sailfn Flying Fish Parexocoetus mento (Valenciennes, 1847) (Beloniformes: Exocoetdae), from the waters of Andaman Islands, India Evaluatng performance of four species distributon models using Blue-tailed – Y. Gladston, S.M. Ajina, J. Praveenraj, R. Kiruba-Sankar, K.K. Bineesh & Green Darner Anax gutatus (Insecta: Odonata) as model organism from the S. Dam Roy, Pp. 17032–17035 Gangetc riparian zone – Kritsh De, S. Zeeshan Ali, Niladri Dasgupta, Virendra Prasad Uniyal, A frst distributon record of the Indian Peacock Sofshell Turtle Nilssonia hurum Jeyaraj Antony Johnson & Syed Ainul Hussain, Pp. 16962–16970 (Gray, 1830) (Reptlia: Testudines: Trionychidae) from Mizoram, India – Gospel Zothanmawia Hmar, Lalbiakzuala, Lalmuansanga, Dadina Zote, Buterfy species richness and diversity in rural and urban areas of Sirajganj, Vanlalhruaia, Hmar Betlu Ramengmawii, Kulendra Chandra Das & Hmar Tlawmte Bangladesh Lalremsanga, Pp. 17036–17040 – Sheikh Muhammad Shaburul Imam, Amit Kumer Neogi, M. Ziaur Rahman & M. Sabbir Hasan, Pp. 16971–16978 A frog that eats foam: predaton on the nest of Polypedates sp. (Rhacophoridae) by Euphlycts sp. (Dicroglossidae) Chroococcalean blue green algae from the paddy felds of Satara District, – Pranoy Kishore Borah, Avrajjal Ghosh, Bikash Sahoo & Aniruddha Data-Roy, Maharashtra, India Pp. 17041–17044 – Sharada Jagannath Ghadage & Vaneeta Chandrashekhar Karande, Pp. 16979– 16992 New distributon record of two endemic plant species, Euphorbia kadapensis Sarojin. & R.R.V. Raju (Euphorbiaceae) and Lepidagathis keralensis Madhus. & N.P. Singh (Acanthaceae), for Karnataka, India Short Communicatons – P. Raja, N. Dhatchanamoorthy, S. Soosairaj & P. Jansirani, Pp. 17045–17048

Avifaunal diversity along the riverine habitats of Papikonda Natonal Park, Cirsium wallichii DC. (Asteraceae): a key nectar source of buterfies Andhra Pradesh, India – Bitupan Boruah, Amit Kumar & Abhijit Das, Pp. 17049–17056 – Paromita Ray, Giridhar Malla, Upma Manral, J.A. Johnson & K. Sivakumar, Pp. 16993–16999 Hypecoum pendulum L. (Papaveraceae: Ranunculales): a new record for the fora of Haryana, India Medetomidine may cause heart murmur in Cougars and Jaguars: case report – Naina Palria, Nidhan Singh & Bhoo Dev Vashistha, Pp. 17057–17059 – Thiago Cavalheri Luczinski, Gediendson Ribeiro de Araújo, Matheus Folgearini Silveira, Murillo Daparé Kirnew, Roberto Andres Navarrete, Jorge Aparecido Salomão-Jr, Letcia Alecho Requena, Jairo Antonio Melo dos Santos, Marcell Addendum Hideki Koshiyama, Cristane Schilbach Pizzuto & Pedro Nacib Jorge-Neto, Pp. 17000–17002 Erratum and addenda to the artcle ‘A history of primatology in India’ – Mewa Singh, Mridula Singh, Honnavalli N. Kumara, Dilip Chetry & Santanu Descripton of a new species of Omyomymar Schauf from India with a key Mahato, Pp. 17060–17062 to Oriental species and frst report of Palaeoneura markhoddlei Triapitsyn (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) from the Indian subcontnent – H. Sankararaman & S. Manickavasagam, Pp. 17003–17008

Incursion of the killer sponge Terpios hoshinota Rützler & Muzik, 1993 on the coral reefs of the Lakshadweep archipelago, Arabian Sea Publisher & Host – Rocktm Ramen Das, Chemmencheri Ramakrishnan Sreeraj, Gopi Mohan, Kotarathil Rajendran Abhilash, Vijay Kumar Deepak Samuel, Purvaja Ramachandran & Ramesh Ramachandran, Pp. 17009–17013

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