Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, while congratulating tiger lovers on International Tiger Day, has said that we are fortunate to have the maximum number of tigers in the country in Madhya Pradesh. Bhopal is the only capital in the country whose tigers roam freely around its municipal limits.
It is a matter of pride that the Cheetah project is also active in the state, whereas Cheetah is not found anywhere in the whole of Asia. Keeping in view the balance of the ecosystem, the state government will continue to encourage the co-existence of different wild animals in different areas of the state. New tiger reserves will be developed in the areas of the state where there are no tigers. The tiger is our national animal, hence for the survival of the tiger in all the states, Madhya Pradesh will provide tigers to other states also.
Yadav was addressing a state-level program at Kushabhau Thackeray Auditorium on International Tiger Day. He inaugurated the program by lighting the lamp.
Yadav inaugurated an exhibition on the International Tiger Day and also inspected it. Chief Minister Dr. Yadav released three books of the Forest Department on Voluntary Village Relocation: “The Satpura Model”, “Pench Tiger Behavior Activities Kit-3” and “Kanha Ki Kahaniyan” respectively. Short films focusing on Tiger Warriors, Pench Land of Tiger, and Bison restoration were also screened on the occasion. Yadav also honoured forest workers and officers for their excellent work for the conservation of forests and wild animals. On this occasion, Forest Minister Ramniwas Rawat, Minister of State for Forests Dilip Ahirwar, Minister of State for Backward Classes and Minority Welfare (Independent Charge) Krishna Gaur was especially present.
Yadav said that while the Cheetah Project is in progress in the state, activities are also going on to settle the cheetahs in the Gandhi Sagar area. He said that due to the conservation of wild animals and better management of the Tiger Reserve, the number of tourists is also increasing continuously. There are 7 tiger reserves present in the state. Forests generate revenue of about Rs 60 crore and more than 25 lakh tourists visit the state. The ongoing efforts for forest and wildlife conservation under the leadership and guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will help in strengthening the ecosystem and local economy. He said that it is necessary to start efforts for the restoration of wild animals that have become extinct with time and also for the conservation of various species of snakes.
Yadav honoured officers and forest employees for their excellent work for the conservation of forests and wild animals. Among those who were honoured are Deputy Forest Conservator of Indore Smt. Anubha Trivedi in forest crime Investigation category, Forest ranger of Panna Tiger Reserve Hridayesh Hari Bhargava, Forest Guard of Satpura Tiger Reserve Nandkishore Ahirwar, Assistant Mahavat of Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in active wildlife management sector Neelam Singh, Health Officer of Panna Tiger Reserve Sanjeev Kumar Gupta, Forest Conservator of Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve Tarachand Gaur, Forest Guard of Pench Tiger Reserve Mohpat Singh Choudhary Assistant Forest Conservator Rajesh Mandawalia in wild life conservation catogry Deputy Forest Range Officer of Kanha Tiger Reserve Kunwar Singh Tekam and Forest Guard Rajesh Mehra of Tiger Strike Force Jabalpur.
Under the wildlife rescue category, Chief Minister Dr. Yadav honoured Deputy Forest Officer of Forest Division Raisen, Sudhir Patle, and his team members Pravesh Patidar, Prabhat Yadav, Pritam Singh Jatav, Bhajan Sharma, Lal Singh Purvi, Sarjan Singh Meena, Parasram Malviya, Nitesh. Yadav and Shoaib Khan were honoured. Forest Guard of Van Vihar National Park, Jasman Singh Raghuvanshi was also honoured in this category.
In the wildlife habitat category, workers of Satpura Tiger Reserve including Shri Shivji, son of Shri Surju, forest guard of Madhav National Park, Shri Pran Singh Sohare, in the tourism category, security workers of Dewas range, Shri Jogendra Singh, the acting forester Shri Gopal Singh Chauhan and the forest guards of Van Vihar National Park Shri Roop Kumar Mehar was honoured. Assistant District Prosecution Officer Chhindwara Shri Abhaydeep Singh Thakur, Wildlife Expert Dr. Prashant Deshmukh of Wildlife Conservation Trust, Bhopal, and Shri Manoj Singh Dhurve, security worker of Pench Tiger Reserve, were also honoured by Chief Minister Dr. Yadav.
It is necessary to encourage public participation in the conservation of forests and wild animals
Forest Minister Shri Ramniwas Rawat said that the conservation of wild animals helps maintain the balance of the ecosystem. It is a matter of pride that Madhya Pradesh is known as Tiger State in the entire country. Conservation and promotion of forests and wildlife is taking place only with the cooperation of the Forest Department and the forest staff working in remote forest areas.
He expressed the need to provide information about the lifestyle of wild animals at the school level to make Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s call of Mission Life successful and to conserve biodiversity. Minister of State for Forests, Shri Dilip Ahirwar said that the Forest Department is also conducting various activities to encourage public participation in the activities being carried out for the conservation of the ecosystem, forests, and wild animals.
Additional Chief Secretary Forest Shri Ashok Barnawal, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief of Forest Force Shri Aseem Srivastava, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Shri Shubharanjan Singh, officers and employees of the Forest Department and tiger lovers were present in the program.
