India, March 2 -- Tourist guides operating in Bandhavgarh say that one cannot visit the National Park and return without spotting a tiger-such is the density of the animal in the forest. The tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh is home to the largest royal Bengal tiger population in central India. However, a coal block a few metres from the corridor that links Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve to Achanakmar Wildlife Sanctuary, located 225 km south, is close to being opened for coal mining. The 3-km-wide corridor that connects the two reserves and other tiger habitats in the region is crucial for genetic exchange and maintenance of tiger meta-population. It also helps curb human-tiger conflict.

Since November 3, 2025, the decision to allow mining of t...