The Madhya Pradesh government wants cameras installed in tigers' dens so tourists can have a closer look at the life of the big cat in the wild. The move is a part of its efforts to promote tourism through participation of private sector in wildlife conservation in forest areas outside national parks and sanctuaries.
The state has made a presentation to officials of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and other departments involved in wildlife conservation. It has proposed to create secure habitat for dispersal of tiger and to develop eco-tourism in degraded forest land through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) models and to have restaurants and picnic areas inside them.
"The restaurant can have flat screen TVs showing live scenes from the best water holes in the habitat. The restaurant could look out over a water hole used by general prey species as this will inevitably mean that tigers may be seen from the restaurant.
"There can be even cameras built into the tiger dens that are specifically provided for the tigers so that guests can witness the activities inside the den while having their lunch or refreshments," said the presentation, a copy of which was received in reply to an RTI query filed by wildlife activist Ajay Dubey.
In the presentation, the state government said the restaurant and picnic areas would attract people to them even if the added draw of tigers was not there.
There are six tiger reserves in Madhya Pradesh--Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Panna, Bori-Satpura, Sanjay-Dubri and Pench-- which have about 257 big cats. While the tiger population in the country was estimated at 1,706 in 2010, it had risen to 2,226 in 2014.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had in July last year written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his directions to the Environment Ministry to speed up execution of its proposal.
"The state government should first check cases of poaching there rather than promoting such private partnership related activities," Dubey said.
In the latest presentation, the state government has proposed that the wildlife experience in the habitat can be "initially at the same price or even a few rupees more expensive than current tiger reserve fees".
Madhya Pradesh wants tourism activities like guided vehicular excursions, natural treks and film shows to be organised by the private partner inside these protected areas, the presentation says.
"Once these parks are up and running, they should take most or all the pressure off the existing tiger reserves. Rejuvenation of degraded forests will not only improve the forest cover but will also create habitat and revive corridors for long ranging species like tiger and allow continuous distribution of other species, ensuring genetic continuity.
"The restoration of corridors may reduce man-animal conflicts," MP proposal said.
However, the Centre while reviewing the proposal at a meeting asked the state government to take up further consultation in the matter.
"The state government may take up consultation for assessing the feasibility of taking the project further, including pilot proposal for small safari park. It was also agreed that financial feasibility of the concept based on the proposed pilot project needs to be worked out and a policy proposal may be sent with specifics so that it can be examined in the longer legal and policy context of the sector," as per the minutes of the meeting.
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