A four-lane national highway with Assam’s first elevated wildlife corridor is set to cut through Kaziranga National Park, a project the Centre says will improve connectivity in Upper Assam while safeguarding the movement of wild animals.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the ₹6,950-crore project on 18 January, describing it as a development initiative designed to keep the forest ecosystem intact. The highway will upgrade the existing two-lane National Highway-715 into a four-lane road, with long stretches elevated over key wildlife corridors used by rhinos, elephants and tigers.
According to government releases, the project spans 86 kilometres between Kaliabor and Numaligarh. It includes widening 30 kilometres of the existing highway, building a 21-kilometre bypass and constructing a 35-kilometre elevated corridor through Kaziranga National Park. The elevated sections are intended to allow animals to move freely underneath, particularly during the monsoon season when flooding forces wildlife to migrate towards higher ground in the Karbi Anglong hills.
Officials say the design responds to a long-standing problem in the region, where animals crossing the highway during floods often lead to fatal road accidents. By routing traffic above traditional animal movement paths, the project aims to reduce human-wildlife conflict while maintaining uninterrupted road connectivity.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the project in October 2025, highlighting its role in improving access between Guwahati, Nagaon, Golaghat, Numaligarh and Jorhat, while also boosting tourism to destinations such as Kaziranga National Park and Kakochang Waterfall. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has stated that construction of the elevated corridors is expected to be completed within 24 months.
The Supreme Court, while hearing a related case in November 2024, described the elevated corridor as a wildlife-friendly intervention and classified the project as urgent. Government submissions in Parliament have also indicated that multiple agencies, including the Wildlife Institute of India and the National Tiger Conservation Authority, are involved in ecological assessments.
Despite these assurances, environmental concerns remain. The project will require diversion of nearly 20 hectares of forest land within Kaziranga’s core area and over 360 hectares from its eco-sensitive zone. Conservationists have warned that construction activity could disrupt wildlife movement and stress animal populations, even as authorities maintain that safeguards and mitigation measures have been built into the project design.
The National Board for Wildlife cleared the project in February 2024, calling it one of the most critical linear infrastructure developments in a major wildlife landscape, while stressing that animal passage designs must be implemented with precision to minimise ecological damage.