New Delhi | April 10, 2026
In a major validation of eco-sensitive infrastructure planning, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) have released a report titled “Landscapes Reconnected”, offering the first scientific proof that wildlife is actively using the underpasses built along the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor.
The study focused on the 18-km Ganeshpur–Asharodi stretch, a crucial forested zone that is home to endangered species such as tigers, elephants, greater hornbills, and king cobras. Researchers found that the 10.97-km-long dedicated underpass network on this stretch is successfully enabling safe animal movement across the highway.
Using 150 high-tech camera traps and 29 AudioMoth acoustic recorders over a 40-day monitoring period, the team captured 111,234 images of humans, domestic animals, and wildlife. Of these, 40,444 images belonged to 18 distinct wildlife species using the underpasses, confirming the effectiveness of the conservation design.
The most frequently recorded species included:
- Golden jackal
- Nilgai
- Sambar
- Spotted deer
- Indian hare
- Various pheasants and monkeys
Most notably, the study documented 60 instances of elephants safely using the corridor, a significant indicator that even the largest mammals are adapting well to the engineered passage system.
The corridor includes one of Asia’s largest wildlife elevated corridors, designed with an average height of 6–7 metres, allowing seamless passage for large mammals and migratory species.
The study area was divided into three ecological zones, spanning riverbeds, hilly terrain, and sal forest landscapes across the Shivalik range, helping researchers assess species movement across varied habitats.
The findings position the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor as a model for balancing national infrastructure growth with biodiversity conservation, demonstrating that large-scale highway projects can coexist with ecological priorities when wildlife movement is built into the engineering design.
