4 years on, state’s leopard safaris remain on paper

Nagpur: Four leopard safaris announced four years ago by Maharashtra forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar in different parts of the state have proved non-starters.

The safaris were to come up in Padmapur (Chandrapur), Lonavala (Pune), Borivali (Mumbai) and Nandgaon Peth (Amravati) with twin objectives of providing places to keep problem leopards captured in different parts of the state and to boost tourism. After four years, all of them remain on paper.

TOI talked to forest officials and even minister’s office but they did not have much to say about plans to get them off the ground. “Only the officials concerned in these districts will be able to tell what is the status of leopard safaris. The issue never came up for discussions in meetings,” said forest ministry officials.

MK Rao, PCCF (information technology & policy), claimed when he was APCCF (wildlife west), Mumbai, the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) had sanctioned the zoo layout plan at Borivali. “I suppose leopard safari was one of the attractions but would need further design approvals,” he added.

Senior Amravati forest circle officials said, “The leopard safari was to come up in Nandgaon Peth but there is no talk about it nor any plan has been prepared or meetings held.” Similar was the fate of safari in Pune, which was planned near Lonavala on Mumbai-Pune expressway to draw tourists visiting the hill station. There were some hopes of leopard safari in Padmapur on the outskirts of Tadoba but that too seem to have fizzled out.

TOI had done a series of reports on proposed safaris. Forest officials seeking anonymity informed that in a bid to expedite leopard and tiger safaris, transit and rescue centres, and plans related to existing zoos, the Maharashtra Zoo Authority (MZA) in March 2017 had invited expression of interest (EoI) to shortlist consultants.

They said target was to complete leopard safaris in Chandrapur and Borivali first. EoI was basically for empanelment up to 10 zoo consultants, mostly for safari projects. “However, as there was no response, the plan was dropped,” they said.

In between, proposal to set up leopard safari on 35 hectares in Central Chanda division on Ballarpur road was shifted to Padmapur on the outskirts of Tadoba to draw tourists coming to the tiger reserve. Officials said, “The idea was to divert some Tadoba tourists with an opportunity for guaranteed sighting of leopards in open safari which was to be done through caged vehicles as done near Gir in Gujarat.”

In 2018, safari plans in Padmapur started with Mungantiwar’s intervention who persuaded Tata Trusts to make a detailed project report (DPR) free of cost.

Tata Trusts had appointed Singapore-based zoo design architect Bernard Harrison as consultant. Harrison visited Padmapur in March 2018, to explore the land in compartment number 183. The project was estimated to cost Rs100 crore and was to come up on 100-hectare area.

Forest officials admit all is not well with it. “We tried to pursue Tata Trusts officials on preparing DPR but owing to financial problems they are not forthcoming. As of now, things are only on paper.”

Taking For A Ride

* 4 leopard safaris were announced in 2015 budget by forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar

* These were to come up in Borivali, Chandrapur, Amravati and Pune

* Chandrapur and Borivali safaris were on priority

* Proposed safari in 35-hectare shifted to Padmapur in 100 hectare on Tadoba road

* In 2017, MZA invited expression of interest. It got no response

* In 2018, Tata Trusts were roped in to prepare DPR for Padmapur safari

* Officials say Tata Trusts showing no interest now