India's First Wildlife-Safe Road With Table-Top Red Marking Is Here [Video]
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has introduced what it calls India’s first “wildlife-safe” road corridor on National Highway 45 in Madhya Pradesh. The project focuses on the Hiran-Sindoor section on the Bhopal to Jabalpur route and uses a new set of table-top red markings to slow vehicles in an ecologically sensitive zone. The idea is simple: make drivers slow down in a place where animals regularly cross the highway.
This corridor runs through forested areas linked to the Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary and the Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve. Animals such as tigers, deer, and other wildlife are known to move through these landscapes, and the highway cuts across those movement paths.
The specific intervention covers an 11.96-km stretch of NH-45. The road cuts through dense forest around 60 kilometres from Jabalpur, and it has been identified as a hotspot for vehicle-animal collisions. In Madhya Pradesh, nearly 237 such collisions reportedly resulted in 94 wildlife deaths over the past two years.
With the Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve expanding its tiger territories, the chances of animals approaching the highway have increased. That makes this section a higher-risk zone for wildlife and a tricky one for drivers too, because a fast-moving highway and a sudden animal crossing is a dangerous mix for everyone involved.
The most visible change on this corridor is the “table-top” red marking. These are raised 5 mm red-coloured chequered patterns laid across the tarmac. They are not conventional speed breakers. The goal is to avoid a sharp bump that can be unsafe at highway speeds, while still creating a strong prompt for drivers to slow down.
The red colour was chosen for contrast. It stands out against grey asphalt and is easy to spot against the green forest backdrop. The idea is that drivers notice the markings early enough to reduce speed gradually, rather than braking suddenly at the last moment.
The markings also create a tactile cue. When a vehicle passes over the raised pattern, the driver feels a vibration and hears a rumble. That physical feedback is meant to encourage speed reduction without needing aggressive braking. In effect, the road surface itself tells drivers that they are entering a zone where extra caution is required.
The objective is to make motorists more alert while passing through a wildlife corridor, where an animal crossing is not an exception but a known possibility.
The table-top markings are only one part of a larger ecological infrastructure package. NHAI has built 25 wildlife underpasses along this corridor under its Green Highways initiative. These underpasses are intended to give animals a safer route to move beneath the highway, helping maintain movement between forest patches without forcing wildlife to cross the road surface.
To guide animals towards these safer crossings, an eight-foot-high iron fence has also been installed along the highway. The purpose of the fence is to reduce random crossing attempts and channel movement towards the underpasses.
However, the project team has acknowledged that fencing is not foolproof. Certain points can still remain accident-prone. That is where the additional speed-calming layer, the red table-top markings, comes in. The markings are meant to reduce vehicle speeds in the most sensitive spots and lower the severity of incidents if an animal does come onto the road.
The project’s cost is stated at ₹122 crore, which underlines that this is not a cosmetic add-on. It is being positioned as a pilot that combines road design, animal movement planning, and traffic calming in one package.
NHAI is watching this corridor closely as a test case for similar highways that cut through protected areas. An NHAI official, Amritlal Sahu, has said that if this model proves successful in reducing roadkill numbers, the “red corridor” approach could be replicated on national highways running through wildlife zones elsewhere in the country.
The key point is that the design assumes animals will cross and focuses on managing driver behaviour in those areas. It does not treat wildlife crossings as rare events.
There is also an expected side effect. By improving the road while adding safety measures, access to nearby reserves could become easier, which may support local tourism. The bigger test will be whether the combination of underpasses, fencing, and speed-calming markings measurably reduces collisions on this 11.96-km stretch of NH-45.