Lions won't roar in Mulayam's Etawah

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

Lucknow, May 31: The newly elected Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh has decided to put the ambitious Lion Safari project of the previous government, proposed in the native district of former Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, in cold storage. The government today made it amply clear that the Lion Safari project proposed at Etawah is on the list of 'low priority'. ''The project is of low priority for the government...the buzzword today is Operation Green,'' said Principal secretary (Forests) V N Garg.

On the contrary, the Benti Bird Sanctuary at Kunda in Pratapgarh district, which the previous government had tried to de-notify, would be developed into a world class sanctuary, the official added.

In the year 2004, the previous regime had embarked on an ambitious project to set up a Lion Safari in Mr Yadav's home district of Etawah to attract international tourists.

The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has already given conditional clearance to the lion safari which was to be set up in the 150-hectare Fischer forest in the district.

One of the ten conditions laid down by the CZA to set up the project was to have a lion breeding centre with at least ten big cats. The CZA had asked the state government to first breed the lions there and then make the safari public.

''The ten conditions laid down by the CZA require a lot of efforts and investment,'' said Mr Garg, adding that Rs 1.51 crore earmarked for the project have now been consigned to Public Ledger Account (PLA) -- an account where unutilised, but non-lapsable budget is kept.

Talks were initiated to procure five to seven lions for the safari project.

Meanwhile, the much treasured pond of Benti in Pratapgarh district, which become the 14th sanctuary in the state, would be developed further. The pond once belonged to controversial Independent MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh, alias Raja Bhaiyya, who was booked under POTA by the then Mayawati government.

Benti pond, from where the royal family of Kunda used to get fish worth over Rs 3 crore annually, was turned into Baba Bhimrao Bird Sanctuary. The then Mayawati government had notified conversion of the 4227.07 hectares of area covering Benti, Punemau, Banemau and Shahpur ponds, along with the adjoining land, into a sanctuary under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

After the notification, the government had spent more than Rs 1.25 crore to enclose it with a 11-sq km boundary wall and watch towers.

But after the Mulayam Singh government was sworn in August, 2003, efforts were made to de-notify Benti as a Bird Sanctuary.

''That did not happen...it will now be developed further,'' Mr Garg informed.

UNI

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