Ahmedabad: The Gujarat government has requested assistance to the Tone of Rs 2,000 Crore from the Lion Project Center.
The request was under an active consideration for approval, said a senior government official who was aware of developments.
To be modeled on the tiger and elephant project projects, the Lion Project was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2020.
The Minister of Chief Gujarat Vijay Rupani participated in an event organized by the State Forest Department to celebrate Lion World Day on Tuesday.
He mentioned in the video address that the process of allocation of RS 2,000 Crore by the center was underway.
The funding proposal for this project involved RS 712 Crore for the management of habitat and population and RS 375 Crore for the community as stakeholders under Sinh Mitra Yojana.
Another aspect is Rs 203 Crore for Lion Health Management, Rs 120 Crore for Management of Human-Wildlife Conflict, Rs 152 Crore for Supervision and Monitoring, and RS 74 Crore for Research and Learning.
Details are outlined by sources with project knowledge.
Learning and information communication will require RS 54 Crore funds while the development of the potential of Lion Habitat and the future of Lion Migration or Dispersal to other regions will require Rs 117 Crore, said sources.
Also, mitigating the conflict of human-wildlife imagine Rs 22.5 Crore funds, the source added.
Canine distemper outbreaks in Gir and the nearest area of Gujarat, the last residence of the lion Asiatic, has become a big challenge for the Ministry of Forestry.
Many lions have given up on disease over the past few years.
Under Project Lion, the state government aims to establish a diagnostic center of national wildlife diseases for investment projected by RS 71 Crore.
Lion cells in the Union of the Ministry of Environment, Changes in Forest and Climate are also imagined for RS 31.65 Crore investments under the proposed plan.
CM Kupani in his speech said that the state government had taken the task of maintaining their lion and conservation health by developing a new concept of a forward Lion Hospital.
Another feature, he said, is a lion ambulance, rescue and a fast action team, tracker, and Vanyaprani Mitris in Sanan Gir with public participation.
For lion breeding, the puddle of genes has begun in three places: robbers in Saurashtra, and Sakcharbaug and Satveerada in Junagadh.
The minister’s chairman said that under Project Lion, in the coming years, the relationship between lion conservation and breeding will be strengthened.
Optimal use will be made of rescue centers, hospitals, laboratories, and breeding centers.
The radio collar and other modern technology will also be used.
The Gujarat Forest Department has announced in June last year that the Asian lion population has increased by 29% over the past five years – from 523 in 2015 to 674 in 2020.
The range of lion distribution in the Saejarat area, where the gir is located, has increased by 36% of 22,000 square kilometers in 2015 to 30,000 square kilometers.
Project Lion: Gujarat Seeks Rs 2,000 Crore
