Sanctioning the plan recently, B Majumder, chief wildlife warden, Maharashtra, told Newsline, “We have permitted the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) authorities to move the deer. They can start the shifting immediately.” Earlier, discussions to shift the deer to the forest before last year’s monsoon, was postponed for want of necessary permissions.

“We will now be moving the deer soon,” confirmed P N Munde, conservator of forest, SGNP, adding, “It is a tedious process and the animals will be transported in batches of 10-15. We intend to despatch the first batch to Tungareshwar by the end of this month. Then depending on how they adapt to the new forest, we will slowly introduce the others.”

Munde added that the process was long-drawn and will need a lot of precautions. “First of all, we have to ensure comfortable and stable transport for the animals. They can’t check in and check out like humans. They need to be comfortable in their new ambiance,” he said.

About two years ago, the BMC’s Hydraulic department, which manages the Powai park, had admitted in a letter to the conservator of forests that it "does not have proper infrastructure, skilled staff and a veterinary doctor” to maintain the animals, and therefore, requested permission to release the deer in the wild.

However, the animals are still languishing in the enclosure in Powai at a cost of over Rs 15 lakh a year for the department. Due to its proximity to the Vihar lake, the Powai park — and especially the low lying deer enclosure — is said to face severe floods in monsoon. “Every year, during rains, these poor animals have to languish in muck and flood. The deer enclosure neither has proper sheds nor any feeding facilities for the animals. Usually, when it rains, they all huddle up in a small area which has a roof,” Sunish Subramanian, member secretary of PAWS said. He added, “Hopefully, this time around, the shifting will be complete before the monsoons.”

An RTI application made by PAWS last year had revealed that the deer had been kept in Powai park for 40 years without permissions from the Central Zoo Authority’s (CZA) or the Wildlife Authority.