Kuno halts highway construction over cheetah safety concerns, NHAI pushes back

Kuno National Park field director UK Sharma said that construction cannot proceed without a proper mitigation plan and added that permission for it was conditional

Published on: Aug 29, 2025, 12:40:42 IST

By Shruti Tomar

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The Kuno National Park has halted construction of a highway stretch, citing safety concerns as it cuts through a proposed cheetah corridor, even as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) denied violating any conditions.

India launched the cheetah reintroduction project in September 2022. (Sourced)

UK Sharma, the Park field director, said that construction cannot proceed without a proper mitigation plan. “The Wildlife Board and the Union environment ministry granted permission on the condition that elevated roads and underpasses be developed to ensure safe animal movement. If these conditions are not met, we will not allow construction that endangers cheetah lives.”

NHAI deputy engineer Vijay Awasthi said there was no specific condition for elevated road construction. “We are proceeding as per the board’s permissions.”

The 63.4 km Goras–Shyampur highway will connect Rajasthan’s Sawai Madhopur via Madhya Pradesh’s Morena and Sheopur at an estimated cost of ₹209 crore. As many as 32 km of the proposed highway passes through ecologically sensitive zones, including Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district and Kailadevi Sanctuary (Rajasthan).

Sharma said the stretch is within the proposed cheetah corridor linking Sheopur to Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary via Rajasthan. “Two cheetahs have been translocated to Gandhi Sagar to establish it as a second habitat. With cheetahs actively roaming in the area, it is imperative to ensure their safety.”

In November, a 17,000 sq km corridor was proposed across 10 districts in Madhya Pradesh and seven in Rajasthan to allow cheetahs to establish territories. The proposal was floated at a meeting of the Cheetah Project Steering Committee and the two state governments.

India launched the cheetah reintroduction project in September 2022, years after the species was declared extinct in the country in 1947. Twenty cheetahs were brought to Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park. Eight were flown from Namibia in September 2022 and 12 from South Africa in February 2023.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shruti Tomar
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More

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