Three years on, India’s cheetah reintroduction struggles with poor science, delays, and missed grassland goals. In September 2022, the arrival of eight cheetahs from Namibia to Kuno National Park was hailed as a conservation milestone. Five months later in February 2024, 12 more spotted cats arrived from South Africa. The initiative, branded Project Cheetah, carried lofty ambitions. It aimed not just to restore the world’s fastest land animal to India’s landscapes, but to revive open natural ecosystems (ONEs) — the grasslands, scrublands, and savannahs that are among the country’s most neglected habitats. By reintroducing a top predator, policymakers hoped to spark wider conservation attention, diversify India’s wildlife portfolio beyond tigers and forests, and make ecological amends for a human-caused extinction. The Cheetah Action Plan set out a clear roadmap: import 5–10 cheetahs annually for a decade, create a metapopulation across multiple states, secure and restore grassland hab...
A week after signing the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the contentious Ken Betwa river link project, considered as the death warrant for Panna national park, Madhya Pradesh chief minister enjoyed the sylvan surroundings of the tiger reserve resting along with his family in a luxury jungle resort situated in the buffer zone of the park. And as he went around a safari watching the tiger, people in Panna city took to the streets appealing to him to save the tiger the day festival of colour Holi was celebrated. Amidst the raging coronavirus, they did not assemble at one place. Instead they stood at different places of the city with slogans on placards and protested silently. They urged Shivraj to reconsider the project and the proposed felling of lakhs of trees and save the national animal-the tiger . But as he spent time leisurely in the jungle he was apparently unaware of the cry to save the same forest.
"Don't Cut 23 Lakh Trees"
Nature and wildlife lovers, youth and children carried placards and urged the chief minister to stop the proposed cutting of 23 lakh trees . A child raised a slogan, “ Mama , Save the Tigers.” He said that trees should not be cut in a drought prone area. It is said that trees influence rainfall, so with no rainfall , how would you fill up the dam, he asks. Some protesters also carried the posters near the buffer zone of the park which attracted the attention of the passersby; they also stood near the famous Jugal Kishore temple where Shivraj also visited.
Also read: Ken-Betwa Project:Dam of Doom for Panna Tiger Reserve
One of the slogans said, “ stop playing with nature” and the other read , “ Don’t cut 23 lakh trees and “ save the tigers.” Arun Singh, a senior journalist and a blogger appealed to the chief minister to save the national animal. He said that the project would cost dearly for the environment and ecology of Bundelkhand, the backward region already bearing the brunt of climate change and facing erratic weather conditions of droughts and floods. Two days ago, former BJP MLA from Panna Kusum Mehedel had already criticized the project as it would lead to the “ destruction of the tiger reserve”.
Apprehensions on the Rise: MP May Not Benefit
Much before the people of Panna protested against the project, fourteen years ago, a district in Panna had punched holes in the project and shot a letter to the then principal secretary of water resources department of Madhya Pradesh and said,” I will not hesitate to say that the first line of the feasibility report prepared by the National Water Development Agency is faulty. To say that the Ken Basin is a “Water Surplus” basin is not only totally erroneous, it holds disastrous implications for the residents of Panna district as also other districts of the Ken river basin.” In the state wildlife board meeting in 2015 where Shivraj as the chairman of the Board had cleared the project, a senior board member had commented , “ na pani milega na park” ( MP will neither get water nor the Panna park) .
Also read: UNESCO's "Hope for the Planet" Cry doesn't Gel with Ken Betwa Project
Once completed, in an estimated nine years ,water will be transferred through a 221-kilometre long Ken-Betwa Link Canal Phase-l which will be constructed along the left bank of the river Ken. The project will lead to submergence of over 90 sq km area in the Panna Tiger Reserve, home to over 65 tigers. Interestingly the green clearances required for such projects are yet to be issued and it is believed that the centre is pushing the project because of the assembly elections due in Uttar Pradesh next year.Experts believe that the project would benefit the neighbouring as MP will bear the brunt of submergence of emerald forests of Panna.
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