As work on the Thane-Borivli twin tunnel beneath Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) is expected to commence in the coming months, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has obtained permission to radio-collar 10 leopards and several sambar deer, while approval for collaring spotted deer, commonly known as chital, is still awaited. The collaring exercise, scheduled to begin between November and December, aims to study the movement patterns of leopards, sambar, and spotted deer to understand how they will use the park once tunnelling begins.

Dr Bilal Habib, senior scientist, Wildlife Institute of India, said, “We have received permission from the ministry of environment forest and climate change to radio-collar ten leopards and sambar deer, and we are awaiting permission from the state forest department to radio-collar spotted deer. Our team will be travelling to Mumbai in November to initiate the procedure.”