It is India's 51st

tiger reserve Project Tiger is a tiger conservation programme launched in April 1973 by the Government of India during Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's tenure. The project aims at ensuring a viable population of the Bengal tiger in its natural habitats, protectin ...

and 5th tiger reserve of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. It is formed of combining two wildlife sanctuaries namely

Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary The Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary (GSWS), also known as Srivilliputhur Wildlife Sanctuary, was established in 1988 to protect the Near threatened grizzled giant squirrel (''Ratufa macroura''). Occupying an area of 485.2 km2, it is bo ...

and

Megamalai Wildlife Sanctuary Meghamalai (Tamil: மேகமலை), commonly known as the High Wavy Mountains, is a mountain range located in the Western Ghats in the Theni district near Kumily, Tamil Nadu. It is dotted with cardamom plantations and tea plantations. The ...

. On 8th Feb 2021, the

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is an Indian government ministry. This ministry is headed by Secretary Rank senior most IAS officer. The ministry portfolio is currently held by Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister of ...

gave notification of this new tiger reserve. On 6 April 2021, the

Government of Tamil Nadu Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature, lik ...

and forest department approved for the creation of a new tiger reserve in Tamil Nadu and on 11 April 2021 a new tiger reserve was formed which is called Megamalai Tiger Reserve. It is also called SRIVILLIPUTHUR-MEGAMALAI TIGER RESERVE. Tiger reserve area : 1016.57 km² Tiger reserve area : 1016.57 km² Core area : 641. 86 km² Buffer area : 374.70 km² It is mainly formed for connecting adjacent wild life sanctuaries such as Periya sanctuary, Srivilliputhur Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary, Anamalai Wildlife Sanctuary,

Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) located in the South Western Ghats montane rain forests in Tirunelveli district and Kanyakumari district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is the second-largest protected area in Tamil Nadu. It ...

, and Thenmala reserve forests which are being unconnected. It will act as a connecting bridge of all adjacent sanctuaries and also to make it as a contiguous corridor where big cats can thrive. These two sanctuaries (Megamalai Tiger Reserve and Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary) are acting as a buffer zones for all the above-mentioned sanctuaries until now. NTCA, which is the abbreviation of Sational Tiger Conservation Authority, has approved this new tiger reserve. Though its areas are covers the Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary also for tiger protection. This Tiger Reserve also gives a buffer zone for the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary. It also give a better connection for animals in that forest to move around freely from Periyar Tiger Reserve to Srivilliputhur Wildlife Sanctuary via Megamalai Forests. It also gives protection to the

Vaigai river The Vaigai is a river in the Tamil Nadu state of southern India; it passes through the towns of Theni, Dindigul and Madurai. It originates in Varusanadu Hills, the Periyar Plateau of the Western Ghats range, and flows northeast through the K ...

which originates from Megamalai which gives protection from land encroaches and starts to flow again as a

perennial river A perennial stream is a stream that has continuous flow of surface water throughout the year in at least parts of its catchment during seasons of normal rainfall, Water Supply Paper 494. as opposed to one whose flow is intermittent. In the abs ...

. Thus this new tiger reserve will help in transformation of Vaigai river to perennial river from non-perennial river. Deputy director name Dilip Kumar,IFs

References

{{reflist Nature reserves Tiger reserves of India