Madhya Pradesh to get new national park

Madhya Pradesh is all set to get new eco-tourism attractions near the Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar reservoirs in Khandwa district where a 651 sq km lush green forest is being transformed into a national park, two sanctuaries and two conservation reserves. This eco-restoration area would attract tourists with the unique scenic beauty of the nearly 100 islands in the reservoirs, officials said. The area demarcated for the national park, sanctuaries and conservation reserves is a treasure trove of flora and fauna and has a unique belt of thousands of elegant Anjan trees.

'We have sought help from the Wildlife Institute of India and the Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM) to protect and provide a natural habitat to the displaced wildlife of the area submerged by the reservoir,' said Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA) vice chairman Uday Kumar Verma.

'The eco-restoration and development project report of the IIFM has been made the basis of the working plan for the Omkareshwar National Park, slated to open on Oct 1,' he added.

'The development work is going on at a war footing. A sum of Rs.103 million has been spent on work undertaken in the current year, including wildlife habitat management, construction of an interpretation centre at Narmada Nagar and development of camp sites. Livelihood diversification work has also been undertaken in 29 villages around the protected area,' Verma said. VDA conservator Vinay Kumar Varman said: 'The upcoming Omkareshwar National Park would be the new habitat for a variety of animals like tigers, panthers, bison, neelgai, sambhar, chital and chinkara. And the islands would provide a natural habitat to thousands of local as well migratory birds.

IANS,Madhya Pradesh,Staff Correspondent