New Delhi, Sunday 15 August 2010: Kerala Government has suspended two of its eco-tourism projects — Tiger Trail and Jungle Patrol — at the Periyar National Park in Thekkady in the wake of the controversy over Madhya Pradesh’s proposed “Patrolling the Tiger Land” scheme.

Senior officials from the Kerala Wildlife Department said they have put on hold the two eco-tourism projects and has sought clarification from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in this regard.

“We allow tourists to patrol with forests guards only in fringes of the sanctuary in Thekkady district and not deep inside core zone as proposed by the Madhya Pradesh government,” a senior official said.

“We have sought clarification from the National Tiger Conservation Authority NTCA) in the matter. Then only we will proceed with the projects. We are open to dropping the schemes if we find them in violation of the law,” the official said.

(News agency inputs)