Get ready for night safari in April 2010

Get ready for night safari in April 2010

Facility near bannerghatta Park will be modelled after Singapore's nocturnal zoo

Bosky Khanna. Bangalore



Bangaloreans will soon be able to explore wildlife at night in the Puttankunte forest area near Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP).
Come April 2010, the five-year-old proposal of setting up the first night safari in the state will become a reality. During the recent budget, the government had doled out additional funds to boost tourism in Karnataka.
Narendra Deo Tiwari, managing director of Jungle Lodges and Resorts (JLR), said a detailed project report for the night safari was being prepared with the help of India Zoo Association and Central and state zoo authorities. It will be ready in four months, after which the construction work will begin.
Hundred hectares of land in Puttankunte forest area, between BBP and national park, will be developed for the night safari at a cost of Rs100 crore.
"The safari will be prepared in two phases. Phase 1 will be over by March 2010 and phase 2 will be completed by next December. In total, 47 species of animals and birds from different zoos across the state will be housed in the safari," he said.
To reduce pollution, battery-operated vehicles will be used to take the visitors on the tour. This will ensure that the animals are not inconvenienced during night.
Principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife), Indu B Srivatsav, said, "We will first house native animals in the safari, keeping in mind the city's climate and surroundings.''
The state government is striving to complete this project at the earliest. JLR is planning it along the lines of Night Safari in Singapore spread across 40 hectares.
But animal activists are opposing the plan.
Trustee of Compassion Unlimited Plus Action, Suparna Ganguly, said "Animal welfare should not be sacrificed for commercial interests. Introducing night safari will disturb animals. It will be an invasion of their privacy.''