Representative image.
Credit: PTI Photo
On the occasion of World Lion Day, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Thursday launched a mobile application that will help the state forest department track the movement of lions through the information shared by common people using the app.
The application named Sinh Suchna was launched at an event held in Gandhinagar.
The CM also announced setting up a lion safari park near Una town in Gir Somnath district to ease the burden on Gir National Park at Sasan-Gir.
"Using the Sinh Suchna app, common people can directly inform the state forest department about the movement of lions in their area so that timely steps can be taken. This mobile will help us in locating lions in real time and also help the authorities in avoiding human-animal conflicts," Patel said after launching the app.
"To ease the burden of tourists at Sasan-Gir, the state government has approved a project of setting up another lion safari park on the eastern side of Gir forest. This safari park will come up near Naliya-Mandvi village in Una taluka of Gir-Somnath district," he said.
Thanks to the conservation efforts of the Gujarat government, the population of lions in the state has now reached up to 674 and they are found in an area of 30,000 square kilometres, the CM said, adding that nearly 8 lakh tourists had visited Gir last year.
The central government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved a budget of Rs 2,900 crore under 'Project Lion' for the conservation of Asiatic Lions, which are found only in Gujarat, Patel said.
"Under this project, we will set up a breeding centre for lions, an isolation centre and more facilities to provide them timely treatment. The funds will also be utilised to install CCTV cameras, buy radio collars as well as drones," the chief minister said.
Gir forest is the only abode of Asiatic lions in the world.