India’s first wildlife corridor opens on Delhi-Mumbai Expressway through Ranthambore Buffer Zone

A new chapter in sustainable infrastructure has opened in India, quite literally. A 12-kilometre stretch of the Delhi–Mumbai Expressway, now traversing the buffer zone of Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, is being celebrated as the country’s first dedicated wildlife corridor along a national highway. Designed with ecological sensitivity and wildlife conservation at its core, this stretch in Sawai Madhopur district marks a pivotal shift in how India builds its roads — balancing speed with sustainability and concrete with conservation.

India’s bustling roadways have long posed threats to migratory animals and forest inhabitants. This stretch between Delhi and Mumbai, however, flips that narrative. Engineered with five overpasses (each around 500 metres long) and a 1.2 km underpass — the longest in India — it is designed specifically to allow tigers, bears, leopards and other animals to cross safely, undisturbed by traffic.

What makes it remarkable is not just the scale, but the sensitivity: 5 km of the 12-km highway has been sunken or elevated to mirror the natural terrain. This allows animals to move intuitively along their migratory paths, without obstruction or confusion.

Concrete barriers aren’t the only things lining this eco-conscious highway. Four-metre-high boundary walls and two-metre sound barriers run alongside it to muffle vehicle noise and reduce animal distress. The corridor also features rainwater harvesting structures every 500 metres, drip irrigation systems and 35,000 trees planted to revive the natural landscape.

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