Yadav asks officials to study feasibility of setting up Vantara-like animal care centre in MP

Bhopal, Jun 20 (PTI) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Friday asked senior forest department officials to visit Vantara Wildlife Rescue Centre in Gujarat to study the feasibility of setting up a similar facility in the state.

Vantara is a large-scale animal rescue, care, conservation, and rehabilitation centre established by Reliance Industries with Reliance Foundation in Gujarat's Jamnagar.

Yadav was addressing a review meeting of the forest department at Samatva Bhavan.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Aseem Shrivastava told PTI that officials plan to visit Vantara in the first fortnight of July.

As per a government statement, the chief minister, in the meeting, said that dense forests are Madhya Pradesh's identity, and the department should expand wildlife tourism infrastructure and create more sustainable revenue sources.

He stressed that tiger sightings remain the state's main tourist attraction and a key source of income.

Yadav announced special allowances and nutritional support for forest officers and staff deployed in Naxal-affected regions and directed the department to propose out-of-turn promotions for personnel who show exemplary performance in forest protection.

During the meeting, officials informed that the state's forest cover has increased by 1,390 sq km from 2003 to 2023 due to pro-forest policies.

The forest department earned Rs 1,646.07 crore in revenue against a target of Rs 1,650 crore in the last fiscal, with Rs 189.82 crore distributed to forest committees as dividends. The revenue target for the current fiscal is Rs 1,700 crore, they added.

A total of 5.67 crore saplings have been planted so far this year, including 7,360 hectares of bamboo plantations under the National Bamboo Mission.

Officials said 4.31 lakh hectares of degraded forests have been rehabilitated through joint forest management. Of the state's 925 forest villages, 792 have been converted to revenue villages, and action is underway in 66 others located in protected areas.

Five locations — Pachmarhi, Naro Hills, Amarkantak, Sirpur Lake, and the Valmi campus in Bhopal — have been declared biodiversity heritage sites under the Madhya Pradesh State Biodiversity Board, officials said.

The PCCF said fire response time has been reduced from eight hours to three. PTI LAL ARU