Wildlife corridor from Ranthambore to MP's Panna on anvil: Scindia

Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday said efforts are on to make a wildlife corridor starting from Ranthambore in Rajasthan and covering national parks in three districts in Madhya Pradesh, including the Panna Tiger Reserve, to provide fillip to tourism and development activities in these areas.

The proposed corridor will cover the Kuno-Palpur wildlife sanctuary in Sheopur district, the Madhav National Park in Shivpuri district and the Panna Tiger Reserve in Panna district, all in Madhya Pradesh.

Scindia informed that there will be a delay of about four weeks from March onwards for translocating cheetahs from South Africa to the Kuno-Palpur sanctuary because of the coronavirus pandemic.

"There is a plan to make a wildlife corridor connecting Ranthambore (which houses a national park), Kuno-Palpur (Sheopur), the Madhav National Park (Shivpuri) and the Panna Tiger Reserve. This will result in economic and tourism development of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and also MP's Bundelkhand region," Scindia told reporters in Gwalior, his home turf.

Referring to the delay in bringing cheetahs from South Africa, the BJP Rajya Sabha MP said the issue has been discussed with the Union environment and forest minister.

''Earlier, they (cheetahs) were supposed to come (to Kuno-Palpur) in March, but now there will be a delay of about four weekst. The programme was delayed because of coronavirus,'' Scindia said.

The Union minister also chaired a meeting to review the coronavirus situation with Gwalior division and district-level officers.

Scindia said because of rapid vaccination, the impact of the Omicron variant has been limited so far, but urged people not to lower guard in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and follow all safety protocols.

He appealed to authorities to ensure 100 per cent vaccination of the 15-18 year age group and timely inoculation of those above 60 with precaution dose.

Scindia spoke to coronavirus patients in home isolation from a COVID-19 command centre here and also through video calling, and enquired about their health.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)