An expert panel of the environment ministry recommended environmental clearance for a 235 km greenfield expressway linking Varanasi and Kolkata, noting that the project will require diversion of more than 103 hectares of reserved and protected forest land in West Bengal. The road forms part of a National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) project to build a four-to-six lane expressway at an estimated cost of Rs 92.5 billion (Rs 92.5 bn). The recommendation was made at the 444th meeting of the expert appraisal committee (EAC) held between April 23 and April 24. The alignment will traverse the districts of Purulia, Bankura, Paschim Medinipur, Hooghly and Howrah and will pass through a recognised tiger landscape. Project documents recorded that about 40,000 trees are expected to be felled in non-forest areas and about 10,000 trees in forest areas. The proposal includes engineering and mitigation measures intended to maintain connectivity for wildlife and reduce ecological impacts along the corridor. The minutes noted that the Jangal Mahal elephant corridor lies approximately seven point seven five kilometres to the south of the proposed alignment and that elephant corridors intersect the existing highway at several locations. The study area hosts 17 Schedule I species under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, including jackal, sambar deer, striped hyena, Indian fox, Indian elephant and leopard. To facilitate safe passage, the National Highways Authority of India has proposed 20 elephant-cum-wildlife underpasses at designated locations. The expert appraisal committee recommended that wildlife crossing structures be provided strictly in accordance with the recommendations of the divisional forest officer (DFO), including spans of 300 metres where prescribed, and that no underpass have a span smaller than the DFO prescription. The committee further advised that the wildlife underpasses be eight to 10 metres in height to accommodate large fauna. The minutes set out conditions intended to ensure that construction proceeds in line with forest and wildlife safeguards before final clearance is granted.