Yeida to build animal rescue and rehabilitation centre near Noida airport

GREATER NOIDA The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (Yeida) has issued a global tender to finalise an agency for building an animal rescue and rehabilitation centre to protect the biodiversity in the catchment area of Noida International Greenfield Airport project, officials said on Monday.

Yeida has approved ₹3.42 crore fund to set up this centre that will not only rescue the wildlife, but also work for the protection of the biodiversity which may get affected due to the development and operations of the airport project in the area along the Yamuna Expressway, said officials.

“Following experts’ advice, we have decided to set up an animal rescue and rehabilitation centre near Dhanauri wetland for animals and birds displaced by the Noida International Airport project. We will finalise one expert agency for this purpose and then this agency will be engaged in the development of this centre that will play a key role in biodiversity protection,” said Arun Vir Singh, chief executive officer of the Yeida and CEO of Noida International airport limited, a state government agency formed to oversee development of the airport project slated to be functional by this May-end.

Yeida officials said that originally intended as a temporary centre, the facility’s lease period has been extended from five to 30 years.

First phase of the Noida airport is being built on 1,334 hectares of land, encompassing six villages. The area is home to a variety of wildlife, including Nilgai, blackbuck, Indian gazelle, monkeys, golden jackals, jungle cats, and Sarus cranes. To mitigate the impact on these species, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, has recommended setting up a centre as part of a broader biodiversity conservation plan.

“The centre will be built on a 10-hectare site, with five hectares contributed by Yeida and the remaining five by the forest department,” said Singh.

The project is estimated to cost around ₹3.42 crore, funded by Noida International Airport Ltd (NIAL), the government agency overseeing the airport project. Of this budget, ₹74 lakh will be allocated for an animal hospital, and ₹21 lakh for a quarantine centre. The facility will feature separate enclosures for species like monkeys, Nilgai, and blackbucks, and will require an annual maintenance budget of ₹10 lakh.

The animal rescue and rehabilitation centre is a part of its biodiversity conservation plan, as wildlife is expected to be impacted by the construction of this project in this area.

Earlier in June, 2023 the Uttar Pradesh government had asked the forest, environment, and climate change department to build this project but now the plan changed as the state government has asked the Yeida to work on it.

“We discussed the project with the state government and forest department officials in 2023. The state government had asked the Yeida to build this project as we need to start work soon so that it can be completed before the commercial operations on Noida International Greenfield airport project at Jewar. The work is likely to be started in a month or so once all formalities related with this are completed,” said Singh.