Kaziranga Elevated Corridor Explained: How Assam’s New Highway Project Aims to Save Wildlife

Prime Minister “Narendra Modi” is set to flag off a 34.5-km elevated corridor cutting through Assam’s Kaziranga landscape — a ₹6,950-crore infrastructure project that officials and conservationists say could offer a long-term solution to one of the national park’s gravest challenges: wildlife deaths caused by heavy highway traffic. The project attempts to reconcile development needs with ecological realities in one of India’s most biodiversity-rich regions.

Where the Corridor Fits into Assam’s Road Network

The elevated stretch is part of National Highway 715 (earlier NH-37), a crucial arterial road linking Tezpur on the north bank of the Brahmaputra with towns in eastern Assam and onward to Guwahati. The highway forms the southern boundary of “Kaziranga National Park”, beyond which rise the Karbi Anglong hills.

In October, the Union Cabinet approved widening an 86.675-km stretch of this highway from two lanes to four. A substantial portion runs along or through the park’s boundary. The centrepiece of the project is the 34.5-km elevated corridor, designed to allow uninterrupted animal movement underneath while diverting heavy vehicular traffic above.

Why Kaziranga’s Wildlife Needs Safe Passage

Kaziranga sits on the Brahmaputra floodplains and is globally renowned for hosting the world’s largest population of the one-horned rhinoceros. It is also home to 37 mammal species and nearly 500 bird species. Ecologically, the park is not an isolated island. Its grasslands, wetlands and floodplains are naturally connected to the higher Karbi Anglong plateau.

During the annual monsoon floods — a natural and essential ecological process — animals instinctively move southwards to higher ground and return once waters recede. The highway, along with expanding human settlements, has increasingly blocked this traditional migration route, turning crossings into life-threatening encounters with speeding vehicles.

The Scale of the Roadkill Problem

Traffic on NH-715 has grown steadily, with average daily vehicle movement now exceeding 13,000 passenger cars. Studies underscore the impact. A 2022 research project by Gauhati University scholars documented over 6,000 animal deaths on this stretch between 2016 and 2017 alone, with nearly two-thirds occurring during the flood season. Victims ranged from small reptiles to large mammals, including an Indian leopard.

Researchers identified vehicle speed as the primary factor behind these fatalities and argued for structural mitigation rather than ad hoc restrictions — a logic that underpins the elevated corridor design.

What the Elevated Corridor Is Designed to Do

According to government plans, the project will upgrade over 30 km of existing road and add greenfield bypasses around towns such as Jakhalabandha and Bokakhat. The elevated section leaves open space beneath for animals to cross freely between the park and the Karbi Anglong hills.

Forest officials see this as a way to channel heavy, fast-moving traffic above ground while restoring ecological connectivity below — something speed limits and sensors alone have failed to achieve at scale.

Balancing Construction Impact and Long-Term Gains

Concerns remain among activists that large-scale construction in such a sensitive zone could itself disturb wildlife. Forest authorities acknowledge the risk but argue that mitigation during construction — including controlled work timings and noise management — can limit harm.

Wildlife experts such as “Wildlife Trust of India” view the corridor as a structural fix to a decades-old problem. From their perspective, traffic volumes will only rise in the future, making piecemeal interventions inadequate.

Why This Project Matters Beyond Kaziranga

The Kaziranga elevated corridor is being closely watched as a test case for infrastructure development in ecologically sensitive landscapes. If successful, it could offer a template for balancing economic connectivity with conservation across India’s protected areas — acknowledging that while development cannot be halted, it can be redesigned to coexist with nature.

For Kaziranga, the stakes are immediate and existential: preserving the freedom of animal movement in a landscape where floods, not fences, have always shaped survival.