Brij Kishore Gupta, a CZA official said they would take serious note of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation's (VMC's) failure, which runs the zoo, to meet the deadline to shift the entire Sayajibaug Zoo to the 110 acres of land at Ajwa.

According to Gupta, who visited Sayajibaug Zoo on Friday, despite sanctioning a grant of Rs 1.8 crore to the VMC in a phased manner, the zoo authorities could not meet the deadline of shifting the zoo by March 31, 2007.

Gupta, who is now preparing the report after evaluating and monitoring the zoo said, the CZA might now de-recognise Sayajibaug Zoo after the official failed both to satisfy the prescribed cut-off date, as well spend the entire Rs 1.8 crore grant. Only Rs 70-80 lakhs from the grant have been utilised so far. "The only solution to the problem could be stopping further allocation of grants to Sayajibaug Zoo or de-recognising the zoo," Gupta said.

Meanwhile, VMC officials who manage Sayajibaug Zoo said the delay was due to the dearth of staff and engineers responsible for implementing the work.

"It was due to the lack of staff as well as engineers, which resulted in the difficulty in developing the zoo," said C B Patel, Sayajibaug Zoo curator. "It was three years ago that CZA decided to shift the zoo to Ajwa, which lies on the outskirts of the city. The reason being that small enclosures of Sayajibaug Zoo were not sufficient for the proper upkeep of wildlife as per CZA norms," added a VMC official.

Gupta, who is also the CZA's Evaluation and Monitoring officer, on the other hand, said, "We had given them enough grant and a proper team of horticulturist, engineers for effecting the relocation. Other staff too could have been appointed from the grant, if required. However, no such step was taken to implement the work. Only two enclosures stand complete by the time the entire zoo should have been developed," said Gupta.