Udaipur, October 19, 2024 – Udaipur MP Manna Lal Rawat has questioned the veracity of the report prepared by the committee formed to study the proposed tiger reserve in the Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS).

MP Rawat was given a presentation by the committee but he disapproved the report saying it was incomplete and had no proper research. He questioned whether the team had talked to the tribal families who would be displaced and whether the area was at all suitable for lions or tigers.

The Parliamentarian said that preparations were being made to connect Phulwari Ki Naal, Saira Range and Mount Abu to the potential buffer zone. These are linked to the core area of Kumbhalgarh Tiger Reserve. For this purpose an expert committee had arrived and was required to submit their report to the state government by October 31. Based on this report the process of notification for the tiger reserve area would be completed. Without a proper study, the notification would cause major harm to the region, he added.

The committee assured they would review and examine the objections thoroughly before submitting the report.

Readers may recall that the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had given its in-principal approval to the KWS as a new tiger reserve in Rajasthan on August 21. A proposal to upgrade the KWS to a tiger reserve was submitted to the Chief Wildlife Warden of the State in 2019. The proposal was to create a 1,280.49 sq km tiger reserve with a core area of 355.25 sq km and 925 sq km as a buffer. The entire area comprises the KWS, Raoli-Todgarh Wild Sanctuary and adjoining forest areas.

Two days after the NTCA announcement, hundreds of native people, including members of the Bhil and Garasia tribes as well as the nomadic Raika pastoralists, carried out a protest march to the District Collector. They called for the approval of the tiger reserve to be revoked.

Source: Media Reports