Finally, Central Zoo Authority clears rescue centre at Gorewada

NAGPUR: Finally, after two years, the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has cleared the much-needed rescue centre proposal at Gorewada. It will be one of the biggest rescue centres in India.

Brij Kishor Gupta, evaluation and monitoring officer of CZA, confirmed that the technical committee consisting of group of experts cleared the rescue centre proposal on Thursday.

TOI had, on June 26, reported about CZA granting in-principle approval to the project. The proposal was hanging fire for the past two years. It was first submitted on October 15, 2010. Since then, it was for the fourth time the zoo authority had asked the forest department to rework the plan.

R S Yadav, general manager for World Food Programme (WFP), Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM), and divisional manager H M Meshram followed up with the CZA. Ashfaque Ahmed Consultancy Services Private Limited, Nagpur, too had pitched in to rework the plans.

Talking to TOI, Gupta said the proposal has been forwarded to the minister for environment and forests Jayanthi Natarajan. It will finally go to the Supreme Court where the state government will have to file an affidavit, giving commitment to provide trained staff for the rescue centre and budgetary provisions thereof.

The rescue centre will come up in a 23-hectare area but will also have scope for expansion in another 15 hectares. It will have 10 cages for tigers, 20 for leopards, 40 for herbivores, 10 for small animals and five for sloth bears. The centre will also have cages for rescued snakes and birds.

Sources said all the formalities will be completed in July. Plans are afoot to lay the foundation stone of the centre by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan. This will also be an achievement of sorts for FDCM managing director Prakash Thosre, under whose guidance the proposal has been approved. Thosre is retiring on August 31.

Sources said Rs4.62 crore has been proposed for the rescue centre. Now that the plan has been cleared, the money is expected to be released this year.

A rescue centre in Nagpur is need of the hour, specially in the backdrop of man-animal conflict and spurt in number of wild animals being removed from the forests.