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NGT lists Kukrail night safari case for next hearing on Aug 21
The tribunal has granted UP government four weeks to respond to a case regarding the proposed relocation of Lucknow Zoo to Kukrail and the construction of a night safari in the same area
LUCKNOW The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has granted the UP government four weeks to respond to a case regarding the proposed relocation of Lucknow Zoo to Kukrail and the construction of a night safari in the same area. The tribunal has listed the case for next hearing on August 21.
Seeking to remove roadblocks in the ambitious Kukrail night safari project, the UP government had filed an impleadment application in the Supreme Court on April 8, seeking permission to establish the safari and relocate the Lucknow zoo to the Kukrail forest area. The plea is yet to come up for hearing.
Lucknow-based social activist Alok Singh filed this case in the NGT. He raised concerns over the night safari project at the Kukrail reserve forest, for which around 1500 trees were proposed to be felled. He also moved the SC on April 11, 2025, on this issue.
The Supreme Court has given July 15 as the tentative date for next hearing of the case.
A detailed project report (DPR) of the night safari, coming up on a 900-acre maple leaf design in the 2027.46-hectare Kukrail forest, was presented before chief minister Yogi Adityanath on November 19, 2024, roughly two years after its digital survey in December 2022.
However, the project got stuck due to the apex court’s February 19, 2024 order restraining the central and state governments across the country to establish zoos and safaris in forest areas (other than protected areas) without approval of the top court.
This order was passed by a three-judge bench headed by former CJI Justice Dhananjay Y Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra.
