RAS question
The Panna-Bandhavgarh tiger corridor passes through forests of which Indian state?
Correct answer: (C) Madhya Pradesh.
The Panna-Bandhavgarh tiger corridor passes through the forests of Madhya Pradesh, linking Panna Tiger Reserve with Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve.
Explanation
Panna-Bandhavgarh is a Madhya Pradesh tiger-corridor question, not a generic national-park location question. The official NTCA brief places Panna Tiger Reserve in north-central Madhya Pradesh and states that, within Madhya Pradesh, Panna has corridor connections with Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve. The corridor links Panna and Bandhavgarh so that tiger populations do not remain isolated. Panna is also important because its tiger reintroduction programme helped the reserve recover after local extinction. In exam terms, the corridor matters because it protects movement and genetic connectivity between tiger populations, which is central to landscape-level conservation.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Rajasthan is wrong because the National Tiger Conservation Authority brief places Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, and the Panna-Bandhavgarh corridor connects reserves in Madhya Pradesh.
- (B) Chhattisgarh is wrong because both Panna Tiger Reserve and Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve are Madhya Pradesh reserves, not Chhattisgarh reserves.
- (D) Maharashtra is wrong because the corridor named in the question is tied to Panna and Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh, not to a Maharashtra tiger landscape.
Concept
This tests wildlife corridors under environment and ecology, especially tiger-reserve connectivity. RAS repeats such items because protected areas, tiger corridors and landscape conservation link static geography with conservation policy.