Letter to PCCF

To:
Sunil Chaudhary
Office of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF)
17, Rana Pratap Marg, Lucknow, (U.P.), 226001

Subject: Request for urgent intervention regarding proposed Kukrail Night Safari Project

Dear Sir,

We are writing to you as concerned citizens regarding the proposed Kukrail Night Safari Project. There Is No Earth B (TINEB) is a volunteer-driven climate collective working on environmental awareness, citizen engagement, and ecological justice. Over recent months, we have engaged the public on the Kukrail Night Safari Project issue through fact-based outreach, social media campaigns, and collaborative advocacy.

Notwithstanding the fact that certain non-extractive activities are now categorised as “forest use” and thereby permitted under the amended Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023, the extent of permanent construction proposed for the Kukrail Night Safari Project raises serious concerns that these developments are inconsistent with the core legislative objectives of forest conservation and wildlife protection.

Kukrail is a forest area of significant ecological value that supports wildlife, biodiversity, and environmental functions that are critical to the city of Lucknow and the local bioregion. We went through all the documents in the Central Empowered Committee report along with the detailed project report. Based on it, we respectfully urge your office to carefully consider the following issues and questions, individually and in terms of the cumulative impacts involved, and to place your detailed responses along with relevant assessments and background documentation in the public domain at the earliest.

1. Light, noise, and human disturbance

   What specific measures have been proposed or mandated to mitigate the impacts of continuous lighting, night-time activity, noise pollution, and increased human presence on wildlife within the Kukrail forest landscape?

2. Tree felling and forest inventory

   What is the exact number of trees proposed to be felled for the project, and what methodology has been used to arrive at this figure?

3. Protection of the gharial rehabilitation centre

   What safeguards are being planned or enforced to protect the gharial rehabilitation centre within Kukrail from disturbance caused by construction activity, changes in hydrology, noise, and increased human footfall?

4. Impacts of a day zoo on animal welfare and forest ecology

   How is the Forest Department evaluating the impacts of introducing a zoo in the forest area, and what assessment has been made of the broader ecological implications of introducing captive wildlife infrastructure into a forest ecosystem?

Given the irreversible nature of forest diversion and the long-term consequences such projects can have on wildlife and forest ecosystems, we respectfully request that your office refrain from recommending or facilitating any diversion of forest land or site-level permissions in Kukrail until all statutory and judicial processes are conclusively completed.

We also request a written response outlining the Forest Department’s position on these matters, including the safeguards proposed, within a reasonable and defined timeframe. We further request that this response, along with relevant assessments, be placed in the public domain to enable informed public scrutiny.

We trust that your intervention at this stage will help ensure that decisions concerning Kukrail are guided by law, science, and the long-term public interest, and that the ecological integrity of this forest landscape is not compromised.

Please do let us know in case you need any more information or action from us to help you in taking forward our request here.

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,

There Is No Earth B (TINEB)