MP: Delay in declaring Ratapani wildlife sanctuary as tiger reserve, unnecessary: Mohan
Bhopal: In an indirect dig at his predecessor Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav has described the 17-year-delay in declaring Ratapani wildlife sanctuary, located close to Bhopal, as a tiger reserve, as unnecessary.
Addressing the Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers’ meet here late on Friday, Mr Yadav narrated how the state government had been vacillating on the issue of declaring Ratapani sanctuary as tiger reserve for the last 17 years.
“What I started to understand the issue, I realized that an issue has been created unnecessarily leading to the delay in declaring Ratapani sanctuary as a tiger reserve. One paper toy had been projected as a snake to spark unknown fears (over declaring Ratapani as tiger reserve)”, he said.
He said that even the person whose area has been affected due to the declaration of Ratapani as a tiger reserve was also scared of taking a decision in this regard.
He was referring to former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Ratapani tiger reserve, notified in December last year, is spread over 825.90 sq km in the districts of Raisen and Sehore in Madhya Pradesh.
Sehore is the home district of former chief minister Mr Chouhan who is currently Union agriculture minister.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had, in principle, accorded Ratapani wildlife sanctuary the status of tiger reserve in 2008.
The state government had been vacillating on the issue since then till the Mohan Yadav government came out with the notification declaring Ratapani wildlife sanctuary as tiger reserve in December, 2024.
Mr Yadav said that Bhopal is now the only state capital in the country which has proximity to a tiger reserve.
“Here (in Bhopal), people move in the day and tigers move in the night. It is a bright example of cohabitation between humans and tigers”, Mr Yadav said.
Ratapani tiger reserve is home to 56 tigers as per the 2022 census.
