The Union environment ministry has deferred Madhya Pradesh’s proposal seeking diversion of over 740 hectares of reserve forest land in Sheopur district for the construction of a dam and micro irrigation system, citing the need for further study and a no-objection from Project Cheetah.
The proposed project area falls within the landscape of the Kuno National Park, where cheetahs were translocated from Africa starting September 2022.
The ministry’s Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) said the state must obtain comments or a no-objection certificate from Project Cheetah under the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) before any clearance is granted.
The FAC, which met on September 26, examined Madhya Pradesh’s request for non-forestry use of 740.159 hectares of reserve forest for the irrigation project on the seasonal Aheli river near Munjari village in Baroda tehsil.
The river flows only during monsoon and remains dry for most of the year.
Officials told the committee that the ..