Maharashtra: Leopard killed after being hit by speeding vehicle in Palghar

A leopard was killed after being hit by a speeding vehicle near Durves village in Palghar district on SundayAccording to the forest department officials the big cat was hit by an unidentified speeding vehicle while it was crossing the MumbaiAhmedabad highway close to Manor at around 830 pm 9 pmThe leopard died on the spot and the forest department team took the carcass for postmortem Cops have registered a case against unidentified driver of the vehicleOver the years many linear infrastructure projects have come up at various places in and around Mumbai and Maharashtra The construction of highways and roads without mitigation measures passing close to forest have proven fatal for wild animals while crossing the roadsTalking to Midday wildlife lover Anand Patil from Palghar said ldquoThere has been an increase in the number of wild animals getting killed while trying to cross the road or highway The only way to reduce such incidents is by constructing an underpass or overpass at various locations where the roads and highways pass close to the forestrdquoIn the past there have been several instances of leopards getting killed while crossing the busy MumbaiAhmedabad highway and on the roads surrounding Sanjay Gandhi National Park including ThaneGhodbunder Road and in Aarey ColonyWildlife conservationist Kedar Gore from The Corbett Foundation said ldquoAll forest areas whether under wildlife or territorial divisions must be considered as potential wildlife areas and then linear infrastructure should be planned Avoidance is the best way forward However that doesnt seem to be happening even with tiger reserves Therefore mitigation measures must be implemented without any compromiserdquoldquoInstallation of speed governing cameras sufficient signages to warn motorists that they are passing through wildlife areas marking roads near wildlife passes with rumbler strips could be some other measures to be adopted to control over speeding of vehicles Large mammals should be monitored using technology so that critical animal crossings could be determined These could then be fenced and the animal movement diverted through specially designed underpassesrdquo Gore addedWildlife lover Bhushan Bhoir from Palghar said ldquoMany forest patches in Palghar are degrading due to increased developmental activities like building of roads and railways Many locals are also cutting forest to get van patta ie forest land All this is leading to habitat fragmentation Many of wetlands near forest are almost dead so the animals are forced to enter human habitation for food and water which is leading to such eventsrdquo