Cheetahs' translocation today; Chock-o-block in Sheopur, Shivpuri

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): As there are no hotels available in nearby areas of Kuno National Park where eight Namibian cheetahs will be released by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, most bureaucrats, forest officials, political leaders, ministers, security personnel including SPG etc have been accommodated in hotels and government rest houses in Shivpuri, Sheopur and Gwalior. 

In Shivpuri, which is a two-hour drive from Kuno, no vacant hotel rooms were available on Friday. 

A hotel owner of Shivpuri told  Free Press that he received a phone call that a room was needed for a minister but was helpless as the rooms in his hotel had been booked for security personnel, officials in advance.  

  When contacted, Sandeep Bhonsale (owner of a luxurious hotel in Shivpuri) said, 'Almost all rooms of hotels are booked in Shivpuri and if someone is going to search for a room on Friday, itís going to be an impossible task.'

He said rooms in his hotel had been booked for security personnel, officers of Indian Oil Corporation and people from Delhi and Bhopal.  

For the past few days, wildlife experts, forest officials have been staying at his hotel to visit Kuno National Park daily in connection with work. Same is the situation in Sheopur. 

A hotel owner said he had been receiving phone calls from staff of government officials and other visitors but had no room to offer. 

Published on: Saturday, September 17, 2022, 02:00 AM IST