Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Two ambitious proposals of the authorities at Kuno National Park—cheetah safari and to develop at least 4,000 square km land for free movement of the big cats—may not see the light of the day shortly due to various reasons.
These proposals, if passed, will help the national park expand its territories and also offer a joyful safari. The proposed safari is expected to be conducted in an area of 200 hectare at an implementation cost of around Rs 53 crore.
So far, it is in its infant stage and it has not been decided where the funding will come from. Moreover, meetings with the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) are needed to be conducted after which in principle consent could be given to the project.
Even before this, the CZA had objected to some points and officers of the Kuno National Park were working on how to redress the issues. Of the 200 hectare land needed for the safari, 150 hectare is available with the park and the remaining 50 hectare belongs to the revenue department.
“The process for transfer of the revenue land to the Kuno National Park has been started,” an officer of the park said. He added that the cheetah safari project will ensure that the tourists are able to see cheetahs in open jungles.
Along with the safari, there would be an interpretation centre, which will acquaint tourists with various historical facts of the Kuno National Park and information about the cheetahs.
“Under the safari project, small sectors would be created so that the visitors could definitely have the glimpse of cheetah and should not return with the grudge of not being able to see one,” the outgoing District Forest Officer of Kuno, Prakash Kumar Verma, told Free Press.
The other proposal is related to the development of at least 4,000 square km land for free movement of cheetahs. The cheetahs often venture out in the nearby jungle areas of the national park.
To address this issue and to bring the identified land under the authority of the Kuno DFO, a proposal was recently sent to the government. However, as the government is busy in election related preparations, the proposal has gone into the cold storage.
