Thirsty Tigers: Water Crisis Fueling Human-Animal Conflict in MP

It was the month of March. The wheat crop was about to ripen in the fields of Dadrod village under Gauharganj tehsil of Raisen district. Amidst the scorching heat, the farmers were irrigating their crops for the last time. One such evening, Karan Singh Meena had gone to his field for irrigation at 7 pm. While feeding his 4 cows and bull, he noticed movement in the wheat field but dismissed it as stray cattle or a dog.

But when he reached his field again at 6 am the next morning, the scene of the field had changed. One of his cows was lying dead on the ground. Some animal had eaten its hind part and twisted its neck. Actually, on the night of March 27, a tigres had hunted in Meena's field. He guesses and says,

"Sher ne 4 baje ke qareeb shikaar kiya tha."

This tigress likely wandered from the Chiklod range of Ratapani Tiger Reserve, adjacent to Dadrod village. Meena informed the forest department, but the carcass remained for nine days before the tiger returned to drag it to a nearby canal. For about 15 days, the female tiger and her cub camped in the village, with many villagers spotting them around the canal.

Two tigers also roamed around for about a month in March in Imliya village, which is just 5 km away from Karan's farm. Lakhan Singh Meena, a farmer here, says that these tigers were seen near the Betwa river flowing on the banks of the village during the afternoon. In the evening, they were seen hunting some cattle or in the fields.

Interestingly, while the killing of Karan's cow and the sighting of the tiger in his village failed to attract national media attention, a similar theme surfaced just a week later — although in a different context. 

Offering water or milk to #cheetahs by villagers is not a good sign for #wildlife conservation. This may lead to dangerous consequences. As usual, the forest is undisturbed.@CMMadhyaPradesh @ntca_india @PMOIndia @KunoNationalPrk @Collectorsheop1 pic.twitter.com/3iIIYbd8Kn

— ajay dubey (@Ajaydubey9) April 5, 2025

Around 380 km away, in Kuno National Park of Sheopur, a person was seen offering water to Cheetas, an act that did capture widespread media interest. Across all three incidents, one element remained constant: water. 

There was one thing common in the statements of all the people who saw the tiger in both these villages — the tiger was seen near some water body. While in Imliya it was spotted near the river, in Dadrod it was seen near the canal. 

Whether it was Tigers near rivers and canals or Cheetas being given water, these big cats were consistently found in search of it.

Scarcity in the Sanctuary

As the heat increases, the water in the reservoirs starts drying up. The same is the case with the reservoirs inside the forest. This can be understood from the example of Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary. 

In 2023, Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary was expanded and designated as Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve, spanning the Sagar and Damoh districts of Bundelkhand—a region historically characterized by water scarcity.

There are a total of 92 small and medium water structures in the 5 ranges of this sanctuary. But only 32 of these are perennial. This sanctuary is divided into 343 compartments. According to research, only 13% (44 compartments) of these have such water structures in which water is available even in summer.

Of the 1,197 sq km forest area, about 945.63 sq km turns dry in summer, forcing wild animals to travel over 20 km toward human settlements for water. During these journeys, animals enter villages and some, like tigers, die in road or railway accidents.

The forest area around Imaliya village of Raisen is also adjacent to the Ratapani Tiger Reserve. This forest area has around 90 tigers.

Imaliya's Lakhan Singh Meena too believes that tigers came to his village in search of water. In March, there was sufficient availability of water in the Betwa river due to which they camped there. Retired Principal Chief Conservator of Forests R. Sreenivasa Murthy explains that the tiger is a cold climate animal. In such a situation, as the temperature increases, the tiger stays near water for a longer time. In this way, he not only keeps his body cool but it also becomes easier for him to hunt because most of the prey comes near water bodies.

With the drying up of water reservoirs, the tiger has to come out of the forest for both water and prey. In such a situation, villages like Imaliya, where water in the form of river and prey in the form of cattle is easily available, are most suitable for them.

But not only humans but also wild animals are in danger when they come from the forest to the village. Retired Field Director of Pench Tiger Reserve Vikram Singh Parihar says, 

"When wild animals leave forests due to water shortage, they face three main dangers: threats from villagers, increased vulnerability to hunters, and attacks from village dogs on migrating herbivores."

Water Without a Plan

To reduce this danger, the forest department builds water holes. These are filled with water from tankers. But before this immediate action, the forest department monitors the water bodies in the forest throughout the year. Explaining this in detail, Murthy says,

“The department maps all the water bodies and classifies which water bodies have water for 6, 9 and 12 months. Then those water bodies are marked where water needs to be supplied through tankers or other means in summers.”

Parihar says that it is important that water holes are built at a distance of at least 2 km. He says that if water holes are built close to each other in the same area, then there will be more water stress in the same region, due to which most of the animals will come to the same area. This will affect the availability of water as well as the vegetation there.

Madhya Pradesh is one of the most important states in the country in terms of forests. It has the highest forest and tree cover of 8,27,356.95 sq km in the country. Apart from this, the highest number of tigers and leopards in the country are also found here. But no detailed data is public about the number of water structures in the forests of the entire state. Even in the first water body census, it has been told that there are 1,915 water bodies in the Naxal-affected areas of the state. But this census does not give any data about how many water structures are there in the forests of the state. The same is the condition of the economic survey of Madhya Pradesh 2024-25.

An official of the forest department, on the condition of anonymity, says that there is no concrete plan for the management of water structures inside the forests in the state. He says that all the forest areas manage it according to their convenience, but very little attention is paid to the desilting of structures like ponds and waterfalls.

While talking to a Hindi daily on the water shortage in the forest areas of Madhya Pradesh, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests L Krishnamurthy says,

“Field officers are surveying marked drinking water locations in forest areas. Immediate instructions have been issued to resolve problems wherever found to prevent any water crisis.”

Life on the Edge

For Karan Singh Meena, the death of a cow is a big loss. He says,

“The rate of a cow is more than 30,000. She used to give milk for at least 7 months in a year. Even if we assume that milk is worth 200 rupees per day, then the loss is 42000 rupees.”

Whereas in the state, a compensation of 30,000 rupees is given if a cow is killed by a tiger. Although this is less compared to Karan's loss, he says that even after a month of the incident, he has not received this compensation.

At the same time, the movement of two tigers continued for almost a month in Imliya village. At 8 pm on March 31, two cages were also set up by the forest department to catch both the tigers. During this, one tiger got trapped in the cage while the other tiger was caught after being tranquillized. Both these tigers were rescued and left in Satpura Tiger Reserve.

But for about a month before 31 March, the residents of Imliya lived in fear. Recalling those days, Naval Singh of this village says,

“People in the village would stop coming out of their houses in the evening. The wheat had to be watered for the last time but still I would not leave the house.”

On the other hand, Karan Singh Meena, who sows moong crop in the month of April, has had to leave his field empty. He is still afraid that the tiger will come to his field again. He says that the tigers that the forest department has caught from Imliya are the second tigers. However, no movement of tiger has been recorded here since April 1.

Rising global temperatures will inevitably increase heat and drought incidents, affecting the state's forests. The forest department must develop a concrete drought prevention plan by first conducting a comprehensive survey of all water bodies—large, medium, and small—within forest areas. Proper management of these water sources is essential for the survival of both wildlife and human communities.

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