(IN) Kolkata Zoo relocation

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ANIMAL FARM MASTER PLAN DRAWN UP FOR SATELLITE ZOO AT BHAGABANPUR

 

When hippo moves, can tiger be far behind?

 

Tapan Das

 

Kolkata, June 14

 

 

 

IT WILL be the hippos and crocodiles that will be shifted first to the new

zoo at Bhagabanpur.

 

The state government has decided to prepare a master plan for the

satellite zoo that is slated to come up in South 24 – Parganas. For this, a

seven-member expert committee headed by principal chief conservator of

forests(PCCF) A K Raha has been set up to monitor preparation and

finalization of the plan.

 

The proposed satellite zoo will initially house large animals such as

hippos and reptiles like crocodiles that have very little living space at

the Alipore Zoo.

 

While the expert committee comprises zoo management and planning experts

from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, the master plan will be drawn up

under the supervision of the head of Alipore Zoo, S Choudhury, and will be

completed by March 2009.

 

At its first meeting on June 10, the state-level monitoring committee,

headed by additional chief secretary and forest secretary Bijoy Chatterjee,

had decided to request the land and land reforms department to hand over

16.5 acres as soon as possible. An early transfer of the land will help in

quick finalization of the master plan as Rs 11 crore has already been

sanctioned for the construction of the necessary infrastructure for housing

the aquatic animals, said Choudhury.

 

Forest department sources, however, contended that though the Central Zoo

Authority(CZA) has been insisting on relocation of the entire zoo to a more

spacious place, the government's plan to set up a new zoo at Bhagabanpur on

300 acres of vested land has gone awry because of encroachment of large

areas. This has prompted shifting of the Alipore Zoo in phases.

 

Conceding that all the large animals, including lion, tiger, bison and

giraffe, would have to be shifted from Alipore Zoo sooner than later, Raha

hoped that the district administration of South 24 – Parganas would be able

to free the new location from all illegal squatters and encroachers.

 

An expert zoo management committee had, in a recent report, said the

century-old Alipore Zoo no longer provided congenial surroundings and space

that could be regarded ideal for free movement and natural breeding of most

of the zoo animals and other living exhibits.

 

Most of these animals are endangered species and need to be conserved with

utmost care, the committee had stated.

 

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