As big cat population plummets, Chhattisgarh approves country’s third largest tiger reserve

The decision comes after the Chhattisgarh High Court, while hearing a PIL on July 15, granted four weeks to the state government to clear its stand on declaring that area a tiger reserve.

Chhattisgarh’s tiger population fell from 46 in 2014 to 17 in 2022, according to a National Tiger Conservation Authority report released in July 2023.

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had flagged this decline in a 2023 statement: “Some states, including Mizoram, Nagaland, Jharkhand, Goa, Chhattisgarh and Arunachal Pradesh have reported disquieting trends with small tiger populations.”

On Wednesday, the state cabinet merged the regions of the Guru Ghasidas National Park and the Tamor Pingla Sanctuary, located in the districts of Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur, Koriya, Surajpur and Balrampur, to create the new reserve.

“The formation of this tiger reserve will foster eco-tourism in the state and create employment opportunities for villagers residing in the core and buffer zones, as guides, tourist vehicle operators, and resort managers. Additionally, the National Project Tiger Authority will provide an extra budget for the reserve’s operations, which will facilitate new livelihood development projects in the surrounding villages,” the government said in a statement.

The state authorised its Department of Forest and Climate Change to proceed with the next steps.

In 2019, wildlife activist Ajay Dubey had filed the PIL in the high court flagging the fall in the population of the big cats in the state. The PIL alleged inaction by the government in notifying and constituting the reserve since 2012 despite approval from the National Tiger Conservation Authority as well as the Union Environment Ministry.

On Wednesday, Dubey told The Indian Express: “I welcome this decision.. It will strengthen wildlife conservation in Chhattisgarh, especially tiger protection.”

A government official, requesting anonymity, said: “Guru Ghasidas National Park was made a tiger reserve in 2021, but it could not be notified due to opposition. Due to many mines in this area, the notification to declare the National Park as a tiger reserve was stuck during the previous government.”

Andhra Pradesh’s Nagarjunasagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve is the country’s largest tiger reserve, covering 3,296.31 sq km. Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam is the second largest with an area of 2,837.1 sq km. Both have 58 tigers.