Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park is heading for a major expansion as 54,249 hectares of forest land in Sheopur and Shivpuri districts are set to be added here, taking its total area to 1.77 lakh hectares.
The forest department's proposal in this regard has been approved by the state government and the notification will be issued very soon, officials said. The expansion of the sanctuary will particularly benefit the various species of animals along with cheetahs as they would no more need to cross the border repeatedly.
However, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has raised serious concerns over the Kuno National Park in its report.
Lack of field staff in Kuno
The CAG report regarding Kuno National Park has stated that cheetahs were settled here without a proper working plan. Even the cheetah project is being run amid the lack of adequate field staff. The report said that 14 posts of field staff are sanctioned but only 8 rangers are posted here. Similarly, there are 12 posts of deputy forest ranger, but 6 are vacant. Overall, of the total 45 posts of forest rangers, only 15 are posted here.
Irregularities revealed
The audit report pointed out that there is a lack of coordination between the Central and state government regarding this project. After bringing cheetahs from Africa, there is no further mention about bringing in more cheetahs. Objection has also been raised regarding the expenditure of Rs 3.5 crore on removing weeds during the Kuno project.
The audit has raised strong objections over the Kuno management in not maintaining the road ledger. The report stated that there was a provision in the action plan that no officer engaged in this project would be removed before 5 years, but DFO Prakash Kumar Verma was removed, it was found.
Expansion of Kuno will be helpful
Kuno National Park is spread over an area of about 1200 square kilometre and with addition of Shivpuri and Sheopur forest land, cheetahs will get more area to roam about and the problem of leaving the boundary of the sanctuary is expected to end.
Retired IFS officer Dr Sudesh Baghmare said, "There will be a lot of benefits from the expansion of Kuno. Cheetahs will get a bigger area, and their monitoring will also be better. In the last two years, there were many good and bad news from Kuno, but it is hoped that the initiative to expand the area will prove to be successful."
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