Raipur: The third largest tiger reserve in the country is set to come up in Chhattisgarh with the Vishnu Deo Sai government notifying the “Guru Ghasidas- Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve”, spread over an area of 2829.387 sq km.The state cabinet which met here under the chairmanship of chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai gave the stamp of approval to notify the Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve comprising Guru Ghasidas National Park and Tamor Pingla wildlife sanctuary in Chhattisgarh.This will be the fourth tiger reserve in Chhattisgarh.“Following the recommendations of the state wildlife board and the concurrence of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, the cabinet has decided to notify the ‘Guru Ghasidas- Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve”, a press release issued by the state government said.As per the latest census report, Chhattisgarh has 17 tigers.The previous Raman Singh government had sent a draft to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) recommending the creation of a new tiger reserve by integrating Guru Ghasidas National Park and Tamor Pingla wildlife sanctuary in the northern part of Chhattisgarh.The NTCA had accorded its assent to the proposal in 2021.However, the notification of the tiger reserve hanged in fire due to the presence of coal block, oil block and methane gas block in the regions falling under it.The new tiger reserve covers five districts, Mahendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur, Korya, Surajpur, and Balrampur in the state.The formation of the new tiger reserve will foster eco-tourism in the state and generate employment opportunities for villagers residing in the core and buffer zones, as guides, tourist vehicle operators and resort managers, the spokesman of the state government said.Nagarjunsagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve of Andhra Pradesh is considered the largest tiger reserve in the country with an area spread over 3,296.31 sq km. Assam’s Manas Tiger Reserve is the second largest tiger reserve in the country with an area of 2,837.1 sq km.
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