Guru Ghasidas Park declared as Tiger Reserve, after 12 years
Raipur | Correspondent: The Chhattisgarh government has finally approved the conversion of Guru Ghasidas National Park into a tiger reserve.
A decision that has been pending for 12 years was announced during the cabinet meeting led by the Vishnudeo Sai.
The Chhattisgarh High Court had recently directed to make a decision of it within given four weeks duration.
Emphasizing that this was the last opportunity to make a decision.
Despite the approval from the National Tiger Conservation Authority, Chhattisgarh government did not approve for the Tiger reserve.
During the Raman Singh regime in the year 2012 Guru Ghasidas National Park who had initiated plans to convert the park into a tiger reserve.
The expansion would have linked the Sanjay Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh with the Betla National Park in Jharkhand.
Creating a larger conservation area for the tigers.
Despite this ambitious plan, the proposal was stalled for years, with the necessary paperwork remaining unaddressed.
Bhupesh government kept boasting achievements without results
Chief Minister bhupesh baghel’s government which took office during 2018, initially decided to declare the park a tiger reserve.
During the 11th meeting of the Chhattisgarh State Wildlife Board in 2019.
मुख्यमंत्री @bhupeshbaghel जी की अध्यक्षता में आज उनके निवास कार्यालय में छत्तीसगढ़ राज्य वन्य जीव बोर्ड की 11वीं बैठक में प्रदेश के कोरिया जिले के अंतर्गत गुरू घासीदास राष्ट्रीय उद्यान को टाइगर रिजर्व घोषित करने का निर्णय लिया गया। pic.twitter.com/EX9w6HCx0l
— CMO Chhattisgarh (@ChhattisgarhCMO) November 24, 2019
Eventually, Central government also gave his final approval, yet Bhupesh government did not come into action.
Instead, the government boasted about the decision publicly or through advertisements, while no concrete steps were taken to establish the reserve.
Concerns were raised that designating the region as reserve would complicate in the mining operations leading to its delay.
Now, under the Vishnu Deo Sai government the cabinet has moved forward with the plan.
The newly approved Guru Ghasidas Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve will cover 2,829.387 square kilometers, spanning the districts of Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur, Koriya, Surajpur, and Balrampur.