LUCKNOW: The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has approved the Ranipur tiger reserve in Chitrakoot as the fourth tiger reserve of Uttar Pradesh – after Dudhwa, Pilibhit and Amangarh.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday directed the state wildlife board to develop the Ranipur tiger reserve. The CM was chairing the 13th meeting of the UP State Wildlife Board on Friday.
Sources said that all formalities have been completed and the state government might soon notify the reserve which will mark its core and buffer zones. “The NTCA approval for the reserve had come a long time back,” said sources, adding that it was kept waiting for some or the other reason.
The directions issued by the chief minister, however, may bring a turnaround for the reserve, the proposal for which was discussed in the state wildlife board’s meeting in 2011.
Ranipur wildlife sanctuary is situated in Chitrakoot and about 150km from Madhya Pradesh’s Panna Tiger Reserve along the UP-MP border. It never had resident tigers but a fleeting population of tigers from Panna has kept moving in and out of Ranipur. The tiger pugmarks have always been found in the sanctuary that spreads over 230 sq km.
In the 2018 tiger census, tigers living in areas outside the reserves were also counted in UP, including Sohagibarwa sanctuary in Maharajganj; Suhelwa sanctuary in Balrampur and Shravasti and Ranipur wildlife sanctuary in Chitrakoot.
Though Ranipur always had a fleeting population of tigers some of them may have taken home to it permanently over the years, said sources. The dacoit-prone area of Bundelkhand in the past had mostly kept Ranipur on a low profile. It has never been a popular destination for ecotourists despite being a lush dry deciduous forest.
The chief minister on Friday said that Ken-Betwa linking may lead to water submergence in Panna tiger reserve because of which tigers from Panna will seek refuge in Ranipur. “This is a good opportunity for UP. Ranipur should be developed as a tiger reserve,” he said.
NTCA approval will bring a separate fund for Ranipur’s development, management and security. The reserve may be spread over 630 sq km.
