National Parks of Chhattisgarh

Prerequisites

• Forest Types and Forest Cover: the forests these parks protect
• Physical Geography of Chhattisgarh: the Indravati and Kanger rivers and the Bastar plateau
• Biodiversity and Conservation: what a national park means in law and ecology

The Hook: Three Cheetahs at Ramgarh, December 1947

Why it matters: Prelims tests district, river, cave and “first” facts for each park. Mains GS-III uses them as examples of conservation, eco-tourism and community rights.

What Is a National Park?

Under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 (वन्यजीव संरक्षण अधिनियम), a national park (राष्ट्रीय उद्यान) has stricter protection than a sanctuary: no grazing and no private rights are allowed inside. These rights are settled when the park is notified. Sanctuaries allow some regulated activities. See Wildlife Sanctuaries and Tiger Reserves.

The Three National Parks

Chhattisgarh has 3 national parks covering 2,899.08 sq km:

graph TD
    N["North: Guru Ghasidas NP (Koriya-MCB)"] --> C["Centre: no national park"]
    C --> S["South (Bastar division)"]
    S --> K["Kanger Valley NP (Bastar)"]
    S --> I["Indravati NP (Bijapur)"]

1. Indravati National Park

• Location: Bijapur district, in the south-west of Bastar division.
• Area: 1,258.37 sq km.
• Name: from the Indravati river (इंद्रावती नदी), which forms its northern boundary.
• Status: national park in 1981 (sources differ: some give 1982). It became one of the Project Tiger reserves in 1983, making it Chhattisgarh’s oldest tiger reserve.
• Wildlife: tiger, leopard and one of the last populations of the wild water buffalo (वन भैंसा), the state animal.
• Forests: moist deciduous forests with teak, sal and bamboo, and grasslands.
• Challenge: Left-Wing Extremism has long limited management and wildlife surveys here.

2. Kanger Valley (Kanger Ghati) National Park

• Location: Bastar district, near Jagdalpur.
• Area: 200 sq km, the smallest of the three.
• Declared: 1982.
• Name: from the Kanger river, which flows through the valley.
• Caves: three limestone caves, Kutumsar (कुटुमसर, also spelt Kotumsar), Kailash and Dandak, famous for stalactites and stalagmites. Kutumsar is known for its blind cave fish.
• Waterfalls: Tirathgarh (तीरथगढ़) and Kanger Dhara.
• Birds: the hill myna (पहाड़ी मैना), the state bird, is a signature species here.
• UNESCO: in March 2025 Kanger Valley NP was added to UNESCO’s Tentative List of World Heritage Sites (natural category). It is the first site from Chhattisgarh on that list.
• Community rights: in 2022 community forest resource (CFR) rights were recognised inside the park. Chhattisgarh was the second state to recognise CFR rights inside a national park.

3. Guru Ghasidas National Park

• Location: Koriya and Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur (MCB) districts, in the far north, on the Madhya Pradesh border.
• Area: about 1,440 sq km, the largest of the three.
• History: it was part of Sanjay National Park (1981) of undivided Madhya Pradesh. After Chhattisgarh was formed, the Chhattisgarh portion became a separate park named after Guru Ghasidas, the 18th–19th-century saint who founded the Satnam Panth (सतनाम पंथ). The MP portion is Sanjay (Sanjay-Dubri).
• Cheetah history: the last three wild cheetahs recorded in India were shot near Ramgarh, in this area, in December 1947.
• Tiger reserve: together with Tamor Pingla Wildlife Sanctuary, it forms the core of the Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve, notified in November 2024 as India’s 56th tiger reserve.

Analysis for Mains: Parks, People and Tourism

1. Conservation value: the three parks hold tiger, wild buffalo, hill myna and cave fauna, and protect the catchments of the Indravati and the Kanger.
2. Eco-tourism: Kanger Valley (caves, Tirathgarh) and the UNESCO tentative listing can bring jobs to Bastar through homestays and local guides, if the benefits stay local.
3. Rights and coexistence: the 2022 CFR recognition in Kanger Valley shows that a national park and community rights can coexist. It is a test case for FRA in protected areas.
4. Security and management: LWE in Bijapur and Bastar has made patrolling and wildlife estimation difficult, especially in Indravati.
5. Landscape connectivity: Guru Ghasidas links with Sanjay-Dubri (MP), forming a large tiger landscape across state borders.

Memory Tricks

Don’t Confuse

Common Mistakes

Practice

These are original practice questions in CGPSC style, not previous-year questions.

Level 1: Foundation

1. Chhattisgarh has ________ national parks; the smallest is ________.
2. The ________ river forms the northern boundary of Indravati National Park.
3. Kutumsar, Kailash and Dandak caves are in ________ National Park.

Level 2: Prelims MCQs

Q1. Consider the following statements about Kanger Valley National Park:

1. It is in Bijapur district.
2. Tirathgarh waterfall lies within it.
3. In 2025 it was added to UNESCO’s Tentative List of World Heritage Sites.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3

Q2. Match List-I (National Park) with List-II (District):

(a) A-3, B-1, C-2 (b) A-1, B-3, C-2 (c) A-3, B-2, C-1 (d) A-2, B-1, C-3

Q3. India’s last recorded wild cheetahs were shot in 1947 in an area now part of:

(a) Indravati National Park (b) Kanger Valley National Park (c) Guru Ghasidas National Park (d) Achanakmar Wildlife Sanctuary

Q4. Which of the following national parks of Chhattisgarh is the largest by area?

(a) Indravati (b) Kanger Valley (c) Guru Ghasidas (d) Barnawapara

Level 3: Mains Answer Writing

Q1. Write a short note on Kanger Valley National Park. (60 words)

Q2. “Protected areas in Chhattisgarh must serve both wildlife and the forest-dwelling communities around them.” Discuss with examples from the state’s national parks. (150–200 words)

Quick Revision Table

Key Takeaways

What’s Next

• Wildlife Sanctuaries and Tiger Reserves: the 11 sanctuaries and 4 tiger reserves
• Tourism and Heritage of Chhattisgarh: Chitrakote, Tirathgarh and Bastar’s tourist circuit
• British Rule and Princely States: the princely state of Koriya, whose ruler shot the last cheetahs
• Quick Revision: the whole chapter on one page