New Delhi

In a significant development, the Supreme Court on Wednesday permitted the Uttar Pradesh government to go ahead with its ambitious 'night safari and zoological park project' at Kukrail Reserve Forest in Lucknow.

Rejecting the objection that the entire reserve forest area will be disturbed, a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said, "Should this country remain in a standstill? Zoos are old now. Experts are there to look at all this.

"All precautionary measures can be taken with domain experts after it's examined and conditions imposed and complied with."

The bench, also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, asked the state government to scrupulously follow the conditions imposed by the apex court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC), the Central Zoo Authority and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) besides seeking the requisite approval from the Centre for the project.

It also took note of the fact that the CEC has approved the Kukrail Night Safari project.

The bench asked the CEC to visit the site to see whether the conditions are being followed by the authorities and file a report after three months.

The CJI permitted a few litigants to give their suggestions to the CEC with regard to the project.

Divided into two phases, the ambitious project is India's first urban night safari at the sprawling 5,000-hectare Kukrail Reserve Forest and will cost about Rs 1,500 crore.

While granting approval, the CEC rejected the government's proposal to shift the Lucknow Zoo (72-acre-wide) to Kukrail and asked it to widen the existing road that traverses through the forest into a two-lane route instead of a four-lane-wide corridor, given the sensitivity of the region.

The adventure zone, which was originally planned with a tram service, after-dark forest experience, activities and augmented reality-based theatre, too, has been scrapped.

Moreover, the state will have to adhere to the guidelines framed by the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) for establishing safari parks.

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An oversight committee will also have to be constituted to ensure compliance with regulatory environmental requirements and periodic inspections will be carried out under the supervision of the CEC and CZA.

The CEC has laid down stringent conditions for allowing only essential tree-felling that is required for redesigning, realignment and engineering modifications while maintaining a ratio of 1:10 (one tree to be replaced with 10 new ones).