Uttarakhand‘s forest department has built a one-of-its-kind bridge across the two-lane Kaladhungi-Nainital highway called ‘Eco Bridge’ to help reptiles cross roads. The highway is the main route to Nainital and is used by a large number of vehicles, especially in the tourist season.
The Eco Bridge is a 90-foot-long structure of bamboo, jute, and grass was built over a period of 10 days. The cost of the bridge is ₹2 lakh.
Kaladhungi Range Forest Officer Amit Kumar Gwaskoti said, “We have constructed this eco bridge in the hope that small animals and reptiles like snake, squirrel, monkeys, lizard will cross the road through the bridge and avoid being killed by vehicles.”
The 5-foot-wide, 40-foot-high bridge can take the weight of three adult humans, and forest officials said they hope it would be used by even leopards.
He added that no cement or iron was used in the construction of the bridge. “It’s made of eco-friendly items like bamboo, rope, and grass.”
Ramnagar Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Chandra Shekhar Joshi said that the bridge, which will be monitored by four camera traps, will be studied as a model by the Forest Department.
Joshi said that the bridge has been made at a point where the road arcs in a wide `U`, and vehicles going downhill often travel at high speed. It is expected that by reducing the need for sudden braking in front of a crossing animal, the road will be safer for human beings too. He said that in order to attract reptiles and other small animals to the bridge, creepers will be grown it and it will be layered with grass and leaves.
