India for Tigers-Rally on Wheels kicks off in TS to raise awareness about tiger conservation

The Amrabad and Kawal tiger reserves will be part of the rally.

The Andhra Pradesh and Telangana leg of the rally will start from Nagarjunasagar Tiger Reserve, Amrabad Tiger Reserve, Kawal Tiger Reserve, Satkosia Tiger Reserve, before ending at Simlipal Tiger Reserve.

Allola Indra Karan Reddy, the TS minister for forest and environment, flagged off the rally from Aranya Bhavan on 27 September. The special chief secretary of forests, A. Santi kumara, principal chief conservator of forests (HoFF) R. Sobha, and senior officials of the forest department were present.

India for Tigers - A Rally on Wheels will journey across 51 tiger reserves and 18 tiger states where field directors, deputy directors, and associated staff from the 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 7,500 km in seven days (2 to 8 October), 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: to celebrate India's 75 years of Independence and to spread the message of biodiversity conservation under the ambit of Project Tiger and Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats (IDWH) programme of the ministry of environment forest and climate change (MoEFCC).

The rally will be organized on select dates and along the assigned routes. The idea is to culminate the event at Ranthambore, Kanha, Melghat, Bandipur, Similipal, Sunderbans, Manas, Palamau, and Corbett tiger reserves.