THRISSUR: The much awaited shifting of the state-owned zoo from its present cramped compound in the heart of the town to a spacious location at Puthur, about 15 km from the town, is now entangled in a controversy over who would meet the cost of afforestation of the substitute land allotted to the Forest Department by the Revenue Department.
Following the government decision years back to re-establish the zoo on the modern lines in a 100-hectare plot of forest land at Puthur in the district, the Revenue Department has allocated 100 hectare of revenue land in Idukki district recently to the Forest Department in lieu of 100-hectare forest land at Puthur for the proposed modern zoo.
Responding to query by media persons here on Friday, Forest Minister Benoy Viswom said that at a recent meeting of three ministers- Forest, Revenue and Culture - involved in the issue, the matter was discussed and it was decided to go ahead with the proposal.
He said that as per the rules, before passing on any forest land for non-forest purpose, an equal area of non-forest land should be assigned to the Forest Department in lieu and the land so allotted should be converted into forest by carrying out afforestation.
As per this rule, the Revenue Department allotted 100 hectare of non-forest land to the Forest Department in Idukki district in order to enable the Forest Department to pass on 100 hectare of forest land at Puthur to the Cultural Department for setting up the modern zoo.
However, despite the decision and allocation of revenue land to the Forest Department, the proposal is in a standstill condition for quite some time as the plot at Puthur is yet to be transferred to the Department of Zoo under the Ministry of Culture.
The hitch is the delay in the payment of cost involved in afforestation of the non-forest land at Idukki.
Viswom said that as per the norms of the Forest Department, the cost of afforestation of a hectare of land would be Rs 10 lakh and for carrying out afforestation of 100 hectare of land in Idukki, the amount required would be Rs 10 crore.
He said that as per the rules, the user department, in this case the Department of Zoo, should bear the cost of afforestation.
He said that the Forest Department has already earmarked the 100-hectare at Puthur for the zoo and it is ready to pass on the land to the Department of Zoo the moment Rs 10 crore is paid to the Forest Department or an undertaking to that effect is given by the Department of Zoo.
According to sources here, the problem however is that the Department of Zoo is not ready to give an undertaking for payment of Rs 10 crore to the Forest Department unless it is assured of allocation of the amount by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs.
And the Ministry of Cultural Affairs is not yet ready to give such an assurance.
Meanwhile, sources here said that the Ministry of Cultural Affairs is not very keen on pushing forward the proposal due to various reasons.
The implementation of this mega project would be a major task for which the Department is ill-equipped.
An equally important factor behind the lack of enthusiasm is the huge amount of about Rs 100 crore required for setting up the zoo as per the specifications of the Zoo Authority of India, pointed out the source.