The preceding sections of this report highlight the considerations linked to the environmental clearance of the project, put forth the observations made by the WII team during the reconnaissance of the project area and captures the essence of perceived ecological implications and societal expectations from the expressway project in promoting trade and industry and in reducing the traffic hazards.

The salient findings of the mandated scope of work for WII, accomplished by reconnaissance of the project area, review of the documented information and the interactions with professionals and other interest groups are discussed below.

1. WII team evaluated the feasibility of the widening of the existing National Highway NH-4, an option much discussed during the meetings of the Expert Committee of the Ministry of Environment & Forests and also advocated by some NGO’s. It is our considered opinion that the expansion of NH-4 is not feasible in the non-Ghat section on account of major commercial and infrastructural developments along the highway almost abutting the road verges. In the Ghat section, the terrain and topographical restraints and the gradient itself impose limitations on the widening of the road (refer section 4.3.1).

2. The ecological evaluation of the alignment of the proposed expressway route has identified two areas of ecological interest that merit reconsiderations of their present alignment viz. (a) the stretch (Section 3/5, Fig. 5) which is aligned through the Lonavale lake bed and (b) the stretch in the Ghat section (Section 2/5, Fig. 4). In order to ensure that the alignment in the Lonavale stretch does not impair the water quality and the functioning of the aquatic ecosystem of the lake, which is the largest water body en route, it is recommended that the expressway route in this stretch be realigned to completely avoid the lake bed.

3. In the Ghat section, transgression of expressway through the forest is inevitable. It is to be reiterated that the well-wooded slopes which harbour a variety of endemic floral and faunal components of biodiversity of the North Western parts of the Western Ghats need to be protected. In order to obviate the limitations imposed by the topography and the need to protect conservation values of the valleys, the adoption of modern tunneling technology therefore becomes a necessary requisite, a fact already acknowledged by the project proponents. It, however, also needs to be stated that tunneling through fragile mountainous systems is fraught with major ecological implications arising from (i) movement of heavy machinery and man power through ecologically fragile areas (ii) establishment of camps for the workforce (iii) blasting (iv) subsidence and soil erosion (v) disposal of excavated materials and (vi) impairment of drainage channels. It is estimated that more than 2.13 lakh m3 of rock and earth would be excavated from the site during the excavation for tunnels. It is therefore, recommended that a comprehensive utilisation/disposal plan for the excavated material be developed by the project authorities.

4. The conservation significance of the Borghat forest as a repository of endemic flora and fauna and as a representative of the Western Ghat landscape has already been described in the section 4.1 of this report. The need for protection of these forests cannot be over emphasized. As stated earlier the alignment of Mumbai-Pune Expressway without the transgression through Borghat forest is not feasible. This transgression will have impacts on a variety of species. Of these, the issue of Malabar Giant squirrel conservation has gained prominence. The Malabar Giant squirrel is an endangered species that is specially vulnerable to habitat destruction because of its social organisation, low population densities and low reproductive potential. Perturbations to the existing intact forests and fragmentation of intact forest canopies can have immediate effect on territories of squirrels within the affected area and a ripple effect on squirrels in adjacent territories (Borges, 1992).

The occurrence of Giant squirrels in the Khandala forests in Pune district and the Karjat Forest Range in Raigad district has been confirmed through status surveys conducted in the region (Borges, 1992). Though tunneling through parts of Borghat may minimise the direct impacts of tree felling and associated canopy loss, the naturally low abundance and limited distribution of this species in fragmented remnant forests call for greater efforts in the conservation of its habitat. Similarly, conservation measures are also needed for avifaunal and herpetofaunal species of Borghat region.

The forested habitats between the existing National Highway and the proposed expressway would also become isolated forest habitats with limited habitat potential subsequent to the proposed development. The ecological values of these forests that are also well documented command significance and therefore need protection.

In the light of the above a pragmatic approach in conservation planning in response to infrastructure development needs to be adopted. This approach stresses on (i) the need to prevent common species from becoming rare (ii) enhancing conservation of remnant forests and (iii) restoration or reconstruction of habitats, the last approach generally offers the greatest challenge for conservation of wildlife species.

These approaches have now become established practices in places where tradeoffs between conservation of wilderness values and developments for economic gains are to be made. We do have examples of some tradeoffs that have led to desired achievements in conservation planning for mitigation of impacts of the developmental projects (Anon.,1993 & 1994). The Bolivian Government’s strengthened conservation efforts in Madidi National Park to safeguard the biodiveristy values likely to be impacted by Road Development Projects and the creation of a new National Park - Serra Do Conduru State Park in Costa Rica in 1997 to protect the forests surrounding a new highway project are recent examples for drawing parallels for formulating approaches on similar lines for conservation in the area of influence of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway (Reid and Bowles, 1997).

The earlier proposal for establishment of protected area - Father Santapau Sanctuary, which has been put forward for the protection of values that are representative of this Biogeographic Zone can now consider inclusion of additional values that require protection due to the construction of expressway. It is pertinent to mention here that the State Forest Department has already shown its commitment in this direction by initiating a proposal to establish a sanctuary near Khandala. The Maharashtra State Wildlife Advisory Board has endorsed this proposal and the gazette notification is in the process of being issued (Appendix - XII). The proposal would initially result in the declaration of approx. 100 km2 of area as a PA. The refinement in its size and boundaries would be made subsequent to remote sensing and GIS studies that will have to be taken up for zonation of the PA.

This protected area which will come up for the protection of ecological values likely to be threatened by project induced impacts would require financial resources for the developmental of infrastructure for PA setting and its continued management. The onus for extending financial assistance for creation of PA and its subsequent management lies with the project authorities.

5. Baseline studies form the mainstay of the ecological assessment of development projects. If these assessments are accomplished for meaningful outputs for mitigating project impacts through conservation planning then the critical gaps in the knowledge of biological attributes and the inadequacy of the existing database be overcome. Several studies would be required for development and successful implementation of conservation approaches discussed earlier. Of these, the more vital are the status surveys of the valley systems using rapid assessment techniques (Mathur, 1991) for establishing comparisons of floral and faunal attributes. This would greatly aid in delineating the PA boundaries on the rationale of protecting the elements of rarity and representative ness of the Western Ghat landscape in Maharashtra. Status surveys would also provide the much needing understanding for identifying remnant habitats that need enhanced protection for biodiversity conservation. An indicative list of studies required to accomplish desired objective of ecological security of the region is appended (Appendix XII). Looking into the nature of studies, it is obvious that these studies would require seasonal information on floral and faunal attributes. A minimum period of 12 - 18 months would be required to complete these studies. These studies would have to be funded & supported by the project authorities.

Our experience of environmental impact assessment suggests that impacts related to the construction phase of mega projects far outweigh all other impacts in spatial and temporal limits and severity. It is therefore critical to devise technological and technical ways and means to contain them as possible. It is recommended that an Environmental Management Plan be drawn by project authorities to provide adequate details of activity schedule and the threshold limits of environmental parameters viz. noise, water and air quality. It is emphasized here that the information generated through targeted studies that have suggested (Appendix XIII) in the project area and the experience of impacts and their mitigation of road projects in India and elsewhere should be taken into considerations while preparing the Environmental Management Plan. Provisions for environmental monitoring will further ensure an evaluation of the effectiveness of management inputs and conservation efforts.