Bhopal: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday made mention of the two new tiger reserves in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in his first ‘Mann Ki Baat’ of the year.
Mr Modi said that two new tiger reserves came up in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
While Ratapani wildlife sanctuary on the outskirts of Bhopal has been declared a tiger reserve recently, Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingal wildlife sanctuary in Chhattisgarh has been declared a tiger reserve.
The proposal to declare Ratapani wildlife sanctuary a tiger reserve had been hanging fire since 2011 when the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) accorded in principle approval to declare it a tiger sanctuary.
The Madhya Pradesh government notified Ratapani as a tiger reserve in December last year after chief minister Mohan Yadav pulled up the officials concerned for the delay in declaring it a tiger reserve.
Ratapani tiger reserve, spread over 1,271.4 sq km, is the eighth tiger reserve of Madhya Pradesh.
The reserve located close to Bhopal has 56 tigers as per the 2022 census.
Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingal wildlife sanctuary in Chhattisgarh was accorded in principle approval as a tiger reserve in 2021 by NTCA.
The Chhattisgarh cabinet headed chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai has recently notified it as a tiger reserve.
The new tiger reserve, the fourth one in Chhattisgarh, is spread over 2,829.387 sq km and is the third largest tiger reserve in the country.
The reserve is currently home to 17 tigers.