As part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsava celebrations, under the aegis of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, a vehicle rally ‘India for Tigers- A Rally on Wheels is being organized by Telanagana Forest Department from 25th September to 2nd October, 2021. The Amarabad Tiger Reserve and Kawal Tiger Reserves will be part of the rally. The rally for the part of Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana will start from Nagarjuna sagar Tiger Reserve – Amrabad Tiger Reserve – Kawal Tiger Reserve – Satkosia Tiger Reserve and will end at Simlipal Tiger Reserve.
The Simlipal Tiger Reserve will be the focal points of celebration on 2nd October, 2021. Towards this, the Hon’ble Minister for Endowments, Law and Forest, Environment, Science and Technology, Govt. of Telangana, flagged off the Rally from Aranya Bhavan on 27th, September, 2021. The Spl. Chief Secretary, Forests, A. Santi kumara, Prl. Chief Conservator of Forests (HoFF), R. Sobha, senior officers of Forest Department, and uniformed staff of Hyderabad and Rangareddy Districts were present. India for tigers – a rally on wheels will journey across 51 tiger reserves, 18 tiger states where Field Directors, Deputy Directors and Associated Staff from respective tiger reserves will follow the assigned routes and unite at the designated focal point of celebration (the first nine tiger reserves designated during the inception of Project Tiger in 1973).
The rally will cover a distance of over 7500 km in 7 days (2nd October 2021-8th October 2021) traversing the diverse and picturesque landscapes spanning across India; conducting outreach activities along the way and at the focal point of celebration. With an aim to raise awareness on the importance of tiger conservation, the rally will bring together people from different walks of life and the large- scale coverage of the event will enable its global outreach.The proposed PAN India outreach activity will have twin objectives of celebrating India’s 75 years of independence and spreading the message of biodiversity conservation under the ambit of Project Tiger and Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats (IDWH) programme of Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). The rally on wheels will be organised on select dates and assigned routes and will be spearheaded by Field Directors. The field directors will start off from their designated tiger reserves.
The idea is to culminate the event at Ranthambore, Kanha, Melghat, Bandipur, Similipal, Sunderbans, Manas, Palamau and Corbett tiger reserves, representing our country’s initial nine tiger reserves designated under The Project Tiger in 1973. All 51 tiger reserves will be participating at landscape level and myriad of events throughout the rally will see active involvement of diverse range of stakeholders. Tiger is not only a charismatic species, its presence is vital in regulating and perpetuating ecological processes which makes it an umbrella species. Its protection also conserves habitats of several other species and thereby ensures continuity of the natural evolutionary process in the wild.
It thrives as a keystone species, the basis on which the integrity of the ecosystem is maintained. As per the All India Tiger Estimation 2018, the overall tiger population in India was estimated at 2,967 (SE range 2,603 to 3,346). This shows that India doubled its tiger numbers in 2018; well before the targeted global deadline of 2022. In 2018, there were 26 Tigers (Range 20-32) reported in Telangana. The 5th round of All India Tiger Estimation 2021-22 is already in the progress and we hope to see an increase in the number of tigers in Telangana.
