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Kukrail Night Safari project approvals still awaited
Due to changes in the offices of the Lucknow Zoo director and the divisional forest officer (DFO), the Kukrail Night Safari plan, earlier slated to be completed by the end of 2023, is still in the planning stage
With grand plans for the Kukrail Night Safari project making headlines and the completion date being pushed back, it appears that the forest department is yet to receive the necessary permissions to embark on the project. Still in the planning stages, the Night Safari project plan has yet to secure proper approval from the required channels.
CZA final nod awaited
To get the green light for beginning the Kukrail Night Safari project, specific plans including land allotments, landscaping, the moving of animals, and other logistics need to be presented to the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) in Delhi. This body will review the plans to check for feasibility and either suggest revisions or approve them. However, the plan is yet to reach the CZA’s table. The forest department and the public works department teams, along with other stakeholders, are still engaged in joint surveys to map out the entirety of the zoo cum night safari.
Due to changes in the offices of the Lucknow Zoo director and the divisional forest officer (DFO), the Kukrail Night Safari plan, earlier slated to be completed by the end of 2023, is still in the planning stage. Although Zoo director Aditi Sharma, in an interview with HT at the end of 2023, said that the in-principle, or unofficial, go-ahead on the master plan from the CZA had already been received in mid-2023, the submission and formal approval are yet to materialise. The authorities are in the process of recruiting a consulting agency to prepare and finalise the master plan before presenting it to the central authorities. At that time, the project completion date was postponed by another two to two and a half years.
SC appeal yet to be filed
More importantly, in February this year, the Supreme Court declared that any zoo or safari constructions in reserve forest areas need to be permitted by the apex court of the country. For this, an office has been created for the Director of the Kukrail Night Safari project, which is handling the process of acquiring permission from the Supreme Court to erect the safari at Kukrail, according to the interim order passed in February this year.
Abu Arshad Khan, from the office of the director, shared that the process is still underway, and the final plans are yet to be drawn up before sending them to the Supreme Court, which can only happen post CZA approval. “We do not yet have any status updates to share regarding the Supreme Court approval for the zoo, as we have not sent the proposal to the court yet. The final master plan approval is still to be given by the CZA,” informed Khan.
The DFO who has recently taken over charge in Lucknow, Sitanshu Pandey, has spoken of a pre-joint survey that was undertaken by the forest department and the public works department, wherein they are attempting to determine how many trees would need to be felled to construct a connecting road from the city to the to-be safari. This decision has environmentalists up in arms about the loss of green cover to the city and the further risks a shift in the ecosystem might pose to the animals.
Additionally, there is still no clarity on when and where in the country the compensatory afforestation will take place to make up for the felled trees, according to the Forest Conservation Act.
