Nagpur to be Country’s Tiger capital

Nagpur in Vidarbha, (the second capital of Maharashtra) colloquially referred to as the ‘Orange City’, is actually the ‘Tiger Capital of the World’. The reason being that, out of the total 39 tiger reserves in the country, 13 are in Vidarbha alone. After the recent increase in the number of tigers across the country (From 1,411 to 1,706), the central government has decided to promote Nagpur as the tiger capital or “tiger getaway” of India. The recent tiger census shows that Maharashtra has done exceptionally well in the growth of tigers. Maharashtra has a tiger population of 169 as per the 2010 census, Nagpur being the highest scorer with 148 tigers. The Maharashtra Government is taking steps towards increasing the number of tigers in the state. Navegaon, Bhor and Nagzira are soon to be declared as new tiger reserves in the country. This will take the number of reserves in the state to 16.

Multidimensional Impacts of declaring Nagpur as Tiger Capital: 

 As Nagpur stands to be declared as the tiger capital of India, it gives ample opportunity to rediscover the brighter side of India. Round the year, tourists are visiting the vicinities of this city in large numbers. In fact, the number of tourists is doubling with every passing year. What’s more, the only attraction remains the wildest of species, the tiger. Hence, the move by the government to declare it as the “Tiger Capital” will definitely assist in attracting more tourists to the place, however it needs to be supported with better infrastructure. Secondly,in the wake of large number of tourists visiting the Nagpur city, one may feel that that the government must do something for conservation of tigers in order to retain the charm of tourists and converse the environment.

Therefore, the decision will help in augmenting the tiger conservation efforts of the government. Finally, there is another dimension to this decision, i.e. it will certainly generate the feeling of competition among other states like Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka etc. to augment their conservation efforts and other infrastructure in order to retain the number of tigers lovers visiting the state which might be lost to Nagpur as a result of being the tiger capital, hence overall the decision is definitely going to push forward the conservation efforts at national as well as state level. The decision seems to be good one for the tigers.

Besides that rehabilitation of the villages which are at present a part of the reserves was equally important. The Government has sanctioned Rs 50 crore for the shifting of the villages from Melghat and Tadoba tiger reserve. The Government also wants the adivasi community to participate in forest conservation. To facilitate their livelihood, the Government is planning to declare bamboo as minority forest product. At present the Minority Forest Act of 1926 does not include Bamboo.
However, the amendment is likely to come soon and the National Reserve Tiger Authority (NRTA) is now going to be decentalised. The first field office of the authority will also be in Nagpur.