Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh was all ready to welcome the eight Namibian Cheetahs . Officials battled heavy rains, inclement weather, and blocked roads to finish the preparations for Prime Minister’s program to release the big cats.
Officials said that the special cargo plane carrying the felines will land at Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, between 6 and 6:30 a.m. instead of Jaipur, Rajasthan, as was planned earlier.
The animals will then be flown by Air Force helicopter to Kuno, Sheopur district (165km away), which will take approximately 20-25 minutes.
Gwalior SP Amit Sanghi said DeccanEra that the aircraft carrying the cheetahs was expected to land at Gwalior’s airbase early in the morning. We will make all arrangements for a smooth and swift transition.
Heavy rain fell on the Gwalior–Chambal region in Madhya Pradesh two days prior to Prime Minister NarendraModi’s arrival. This cast a shadow over the cheetah program. On Thursday, the final nod was given to the programme. Then preparations started in full swing.
The narrow, single-lane road that leads to Kuno was clogged with security personnel on Friday. Banners and posters were placed 18km from the Tiktoli entrance gate to Kuno, celebrating the arrivals of the cheetahs. According to a forest department employee, “These posters were received yesterday but they were destroyed by heavy rains.”
The PM will arrive in Kuno early in the morning to release the five female cheetahs and three males into quarantine enclosures. He will be interacting with anganwadi woman, cheetah caregivers and forest staff. Saturday is also the birthday of the PM.
The PM will meet women from self-help groups at a second event in Karahal after the cheetah program. The event will host more than 1.2 million women.
While the Special Protection Group searched Kuno’s roads and forests, officials set up water stations and medical camps at parking spots. Rehearsals lasted over two hours and included a trial flight at two of five newly created helipads.
A 20-km stretch from Kuno to Karahal, which runs along the tarmac, was paved. The signs delineating roads built under the PM Gram Sadak Yojana received a new coat of paint.
To oversee the preparations, Sheopur was visited by over 5,000 police officers from various districts and two dozen IPS officers, including DCPs, IGs, and the DGP.
Ramesh Singh Sikharwar is a former dacoit and has been brought in as a Cheetah Mitra. He is one of the people who was called to interact in Kuno.
The programme will be attended by Narendra Singh Tomar, Union minister, and Jyotiraditya Sindia. Chief Minister Shivraj Sing Chouhan was due to visit Sheopur Friday but in a last-minute decision decided to travel directly to the programme on Saturday before the PM.
To house high ranking state officials, the district administration took over Sheopur’s only hotel, which had 22 rooms. The district administration took over the hotel in Sheopur, which had 22 rooms. However, the facilities of the forest department and district collectorate were insufficient. Most officials stayed in the Shivpuri district.
