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Gujarat State Highways Project: Phase Iib 0 * E228 * Vol. 8 * GUJARAT STATE HIGHWAYS PROJECT: PHASE IIB 0 . Public Disclosure Authorized REPORT ON WILD ASS CROSSING ON * VIRAMGAM - HALVAD CORRIDOR . Public Disclosure Authorized * - - Public Disclosure Authorized 0 Project Coordinating Consultancy Services * A Worid Bank Project Public Disclosure Authorized * VOLUME 11-D (FINAL REPORT) Prepared forr The Govemment* cyf GLdarat ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N.D.Lea International Ltd. Roads and Buildings Depa uent in association vith Lea Associate South Asia Pvt. Ltd. March 2002 FFf]R N O T E The increase in the population of the Wild Ass and the loss of their grazing areas in the Rann has lead to the out-migration of some of these animals from the protected environs of the sanctuary. The reported crossings of the corridor and regular sightings of Wild Asses close to the State Highway 07 was an issue that was studied in detail in 1999, when the environmental assessment for the said corridor was initiated as part of Phase IIB studies. One important finding in the study has been that not a single incidence of collision of a Wild Ass with a vehicle has been reported in the last five years and the data prior to that period is not available. However, since the species is an endangered one and last of its kind that is present in the world, the study had proposed some measures for their safety. It may be noted that all measures proposed, as part of this project, are preventive in nature. Collisions are only a perceived threat, due to increase in number of vehicles plying after the rehabilitation of the Highway. Since then, continuous development has been taking place in and around the project region. A major change has been the initiation of construction of the Narmada Canal - a branch of which runs east to west, almost parallel to the sanctuary boundary (Refer Attached Map). The approximate length of the canal running parallel to Phase IIB corridor is about 28 kms. Once completed, the canal will act as a physical barrier and will prevent the Wild Asses from crossing over into the Surendranagar - Nal Sarovar region from their natural habitat in Little Rann of Kachchh area. In such a situation, the mitigative measures suggested in this report may not be relevant and will require modifications to suit the needs of the situation. However, since the canal construction is still under a slow progress, the management plan has not been totally discarded. The final decision in this regard will be taken up before the tender documents for Phase IIB are finalized and issued. P A K t s T R.A N > X I CANAL NETWORK AND COMMAND AREA - * t ^ NARMADA PROJECT Rann of Klchcn 9B~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A ilds' r rt t-. C.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. The branch, now under conatruction will act as a barrier between the IRK and the **~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)**s', State Highway when completed. OSTUTO MALIYA BRANCH . P ' TvA -4-§~' W-7<-, ~ ~~~~~~~ ,j\r,-*{-*'T : W; ( . g ' <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~#0 The~~~~~~~~~OM banhnounecnsrutoPAnl-,r / yxE.2 _ adac teasa l brrlr i4t1 btwen te LKf'sJot;n -- J> ;2^! ; - ,4 Q gJ!nd E ,ch _____________________________________________ 1III'vII°iII1 K? i+ o PROPOSED NARMADA CANAL NETWORK AND LOCATION OF LITIlE RANN OF KUTCH j GREATER RARN OF ......... .;.. __ ., 0 X-t -'; -sw>za vtz - eL I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - E R KUTCH & S z - t _..r.-.-* $4, . * >*. ' *At ; 1s PROPOS'CANAL fMALrYASEC BRANED ATIH 7N 7, kms COMPLETED CANAL SECTION |COMPLETED CANAL SECTION r- -o t '-,'9 4. SURVEY METHODOLOGY ........................................................... 4-1 4.1 SURVEYS ............................................. 4 -1 4.1.1 Surveys of the Ponds in vicinity of the Highway .................................... 4 -1 4.1.2 Bus- Truck Driver Survey ........................................... 4 -1 4.1.3 Survey along the Highway ........................................... 4 -1 4.1.4 Survey of the Drainage Channels .................... ....................... 4 -2 4.2 RESULTS FROM THE SURVEYS ............................................. 4 -2 4.2.1 Pond Survey ........................................... 4 -2 4.2.2 Bus/Truck Driver Survey ........................................... 4 -3 4.2.3 Field Survey ........................................... 4 -4 4.2.4 Natural Channel Survey ........................................... 4 -5 4.3 IMPACT ANALYSIS ............................................. 4 -6 4.3.1 Construction Phase ........................................... 4 -6 4.3.2 Operational Phase ........................................... 4 -7 5. MITIGATION OPTIONS FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE WILD ASS ... 5-1 5.1 OPTIONS FOR PROTECTION OF WILD ASS ............................................. 5 -1 5.1.1 Fence along the Highway ........................................... 5 -1 5.1.2 High Embankments to Deter Crossing ........................................... 5 -1 5.1.3 Construction of Underpasses at the Crossing Sites ................................ S -1 5.2 PROVISION OF ANIMAL REFLECTORS ............................................. 5 -3 5.3 VEGETATIVE BARRIERS ............................................. 5-5 5.4 PROVISIN OF SIGN BOARDS .............................................. 5 -5 5.5 DEVELOPMENT OF FOOD GARDEN ............................................. 5 -6 5.6 MONITORING NEEDS FOR THE MITIGATION MEASURES ................................. 5 -8 5.7 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................. 5 -8 -:14,v 1- TABLES TABLE 1.1: PHASE-WISE IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAMME ...................................................... 1-2 TABLE 3.1: HABITAT SUITABLE FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE CORRIDOR .................................. 3-5 TABLE 3.3: AREA UNDER SALT PRODUCTION ........................................................................ 3-6 TABLE 4.1: POND LOCATED WITHIN 1.5 KM OF THE CORRIDOR ............................................ 4-2 TABLE 4.2: BUS/TRUCK DRIVER, SURVEY DIRECTION (EAST TO WEST) ................................... 4 3 TABLE 4.3: BUS/TRUCK DRIVER. SURVEY DIRECTION (WEST TO EAST) ................................... 4-3 TABLE 4.4: SITTING OF WILD ASS ADJACENT TO THE HIGHWAY .............. ............................. 4-4 TABLE.4.5:-QBSERVED-HIGHWAY CROSS OVER LOCATIONS OF THE WILD ASS ....................... 4-5 TABLE 4.6: CROSS DRAINAGE USED BY WILD ASSES FOR CROSSING THE HIGHWAY .............. 4.5 TABLE 5.1: COST OF WILD ASS UNDER PASS ALONG THE CORRIDOR ..................................... 5-2 TABLE 5.2: COST OF REFLECTOR SYSTEM ......................................................................... 5-5 TABLE 5.3: METHOD FOR THE DEVELOPING A FOOD GARDEN ................ ............................... 5-7 FIGURES FIGURE 1.1: TYPICAL CROSS-SECTION - GSHP ................................................................... 1-2 FIGURE 2.1: A WILD ASS HERD IN THE VICINITY OF CORRIDOR 02 ............ ........................ 2-2 FIGURE 2.2: WILD ASS GRAZING NEAR THE HIGHWAY ...................... ................................. 2-4 FIGURE 2: TREND OF POPULATION OF WILD ASS IN THE SANCTUARY IN THE LAST 50 YEARS .................................................................................................................... .3-3 FIGURE 2A: WILD ASS MOVEMENT CORRIDOR ........................ ....................... 5-2/5-3 FIGURE 2B: WILD ASS MOVEMENT CORRIDOR ......................... ...................... 5-2/5-3 FIGURE 3.1: WILD ASS HABITAT AREA ............................................... 3-5 FIGURE 3.2: SALINE TRACT - WILD ASS HABITATION ZONE ............................................... 3-6 FIGURE 3.3: DRY POND ............................................... 3-7 FIGURE 3.4: WILD ASS HABITATION ZONE ............................................... 3-7 FIGURE 4.1: POND USED BY THE WILD ASS ............................................... 4-2 FIGURE 4.2: WATER BODY USED BY THE WILD ASS ............................................... 4-2 FIGURE 4.3: WILD ASS GRAZING NEAR THE HIGHWAY ............................................... 4-3 FIGURE 4.4: PUG MARKS - WILD ASS ........................................... 4-5 NEW" III FIGURE 4.5: WILD ASS HABITATION ZONE NEAR THE HIGHWAY ......................................... 4-6 FIGURE 4.6: WILD ASS CROSSING SITE ............... ....................................... 4-6 FIGURE 5.1: PLAN - EXISTING CONDMON ................... ................................... 5-2 FIGURE 5.2: PLAN - PROPOSED CONDMON ..................... ................................. 5-2 FIGURE 5.1: A CLOSER VIEW OF THE REFLECTOR SYSTEM .................................................. 5-3 FIGURE 5.2: AN INSTALLED REFLECTOR SYSTEM ...................................................... 5-3 MAPS MAP 1: WILD ASS SANCTUARY ........................... 2-3 MAP 2: -VIEW OF CORRIDOR WITH REFERENCECTO SANCTUARY .................. ................. 3-4 APPENDICES APPENDIX-1: REFLECTOR SPECIFICATION FOR PLACEMENT AND MOUNTING APPENDIX-2: DESIGN AND INSTALLATION OF SIGN BOARDS APPENDIX-3: BUDGET FOOD GRADEN NW, IV 1. OVERVIEW OF GUJARAT STATE HIGHWAYS PROJECT The state of Gujarat is located on the western coast of India, north of the State of Maharashtra. It borders Pakistan to the north-west. The State straddles the Tropic of Cancer along the Arabian Sea and has an area of 195,904km2. The State has a road network of about 70,000 km, of which 2,000 km constitute the primary network (namely, the National Highways, controlled by the GoI), and 20,000 km constitute the secondary network (namely, the State Highways,
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