UP to get country's first night safari park

LUCKNOW: Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday gave an in principle approval for setting up a 120-hectare night safari park near Gautam Budh Nagar University in Greater Noida. Approved by the Mulayam Singh government in 2005, the project was put on hold, allegedly because of a regime change in 2007, even though it had all requisite sanctions from the Supreme Court and the Central Zoo Authority.
To be built through the public-private partnership (PPP) model, the first-of-its-kind safari park in India will be built in consultation with Singapore-based Bernard Harrison & Friends, who have prepared a master plan for the project.
In Tuesday's meeting between the consultants, acting High Commissioner of Singapore, Jonathan Tow, First Secretary, Economics, Chen Kah Mei, Akhilesh and UP's top bureaucrats, a decision was also taken to start the bidding process to identify a developer within the next two months. Though land will be provided by the government, the entire cost of the project will be borne by the private developer.
Infrastructure and industrial development commissioner (IIDC) Anil Kumar Gupta told TOI: "We don't foresee any problems in acquiring the land because it is already earmarked as recreational green. In addition to Greater Noida, the CM has also said that a night safari park should also be set up on the outskirts of Lucknow, tentatively at Nawabganj or Kukrail.''On Tuesday, Akhilesh also constituted a committee headed by chief secretary Jawed Usmani to monitor the progress and time-bound implementation of the safari project. Though Greater Noida Authority will be the partner agency to conduct the bidding process, IIDC Gupta, along with principal secretaries of the departments of housing, forests, tourism and environment will also be part of the implementation committee.
To be made functional in simulated environment, safari will remain operational between 4pm and midnight round the year. With a total of 71 species of animals and 841 specimens, including 58 species of mammals, eight species of birds, three species of reptiles and two species of fish to be translocated to the safari, Gupta also said 40% animals will belong to the Indian sub-continent, while 60% will be imported from foreign locations. Ten per cent of the total 120 hectare space, he said, will also accommodate offices, ticket counters, restaurants and public utilities.According to present estimates, safari will service nearly 7,000 tourists, who will have a chance to see different animals like the lions of Tsavo and species from the Savannah grassland. Tourists will also be able to undertake an India Walking trail and an Amazon trail. The proposed safari park will also have an endangered species breeding centre.