India has shown the world that it is possible to protect the environment while ensuring economic development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

India will celebrate the 68th Wildlife Week from October 2nd to 8th.

“It is possible to ensure both economic development and environmental protection through proper policies and better implementation. India has shown this to the world,” the prime minister said in a written message in Hindi to the people of the country on Oct. 6.

The Environment Ministry also tweeted the news on Friday.

PM Modi said humans, environment and wildlife complement each other and more attention should be paid to conservation of wildlife and biodiversity in the changing environment.

He said India has added 259 new wildlife sanctuaries over the past eight years and forested areas have also been growing rapidly.

Remarkable works are being carried out as part of the “Namami Gange” mission to purify the Ganga, a testimony of our glorious culture, and preserve aquatic life in the sacred river and improve the river’s ecosystem, he said.

The prime minister said it was encouraging to see that the country had met its goal of doubling the tiger population ahead of time.

“The existence of the one-horned rhino used to be threatened in Assam, but their numbers have now increased as well. The number of Asiatic lions in India has also increased sharply, and the population of elephants is steadily increasing as well,” he says.

PM Modi said time offers few opportunities for humanity to rectify the past and build a new future.

“One such moment was the arrival of cheetahs in the country as part of the world’s largest intercontinental rehabilitation program. I’m sure that mutual cooperation between the Forest Service and the general public will make it a success,” he said.

The cheetah has returned to India 70 years after the species was declared extinct in the country in 1952.

The large carnivore has been completely eradicated from the country due to overhunting and habitat loss.

PM Modi released the first group of eight cheetahs, five females and three males, from Namibia to a quarantine enclosure in Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh on his birthday on September 17.

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