Rs 25-cr plan to upgrade Katraj zoo
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has submitted a proposal of Rs 25 crore to the union government to upgrade the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park at Katraj.
3 min read
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has submitted a proposal of Rs 25 crore to the union government to upgrade the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park at Katraj. The PMC plans to increase the number of animals from the existing strength of 350 animals of around 16 species to enable its inclusion in the category of model zoo as per the norms.
The proposal to upgrade the zoo at Katraj has been submitted to the central zoo authority. It includes a long-term plan, said Bhanudas Mane,PMC garden superintendent. The Rajiv Gandhi zoological park is spread across 165 acre in the fringe area of the PMC and has an animal orphanage,a snake park,a zoo and a lake. The PMC had shifted the zoo from Peshwe Park in the heart of the city to Katraj as it failed to meet the needs of Central Zoo Authority of India.
A master plan that would help in bringing changes and creating new facilities for animals in the zoological park has been submitted to the zoo authority. The implementation of the master plan would require Rs 25 crore, said Kazveen Umrigar,director,Rajiv Gandhi zoological park. Mane said the master plan is prepared as per the guidelines of central zoo authority and is part of the union government decision to identify and upgrade the select zoo across the country.
The effort would be to create a natural forest environment for animals and make necessary provisions for meeting the needs of the wild animals,he said,adding that the plan includes increasing the strength of wild animals in the zoo by sharing them with other zoos in the country.
The zoo does not have wolves and effort would be made to get them from other zoo. Meanwhile,we are also trying to get a rock python from a zoo in Chennai for the snake park, he said.
To attract more visitors to the zoo and make it citizen friendly,Mane said,the PMC plans to start a small train that would ferry visitors across the park. The zoo already has battery-operated vehicles that was introduced in 2008.
The civic body had recently launched its animal adoption scheme for citizens. There are around 3,000 daily and 15,000 visitors to the zoo on holidays.
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