As the city starts gearing up for the international bio-diversity conference scheduled in October, the Nehru Zoological Park too will be getting a facelift to coincide with the event.
One of the most popular spot for a day's outing in the city, the zoo has drawn up plans for a series of works aimed at enhancing the premises and improving amenities for the international summit expected to draw nearly 10,000 delegates from 200 countries.
According to the officials, a budget of Rs.4.50 crore has been earmarked for the works that include improvement of main gate, walls, gardens and amenities such as drinking water. An interpretation centre-cum-auditorium will also be readied by the month of September.
A bird conservation park with features that attract the winged creatures will also come up and the exhibits here will seek to impart information on various conservation methods that can be adopted in the urban areas.
“Four reverse osmosis drinking units along with new and improved signage boards will also be in place,” says P. Mallikarjuna Rao, Director of State Zoos.
The zoo, which presently has two battery-operated vehicles to provide pollution free transport for visitors in the premises, has decided to add a fleet of 25 more vehicles. Each vehicle costs around Rs.6 lakh and is expected to be a major attraction here. Along with the city facility, the fleet of pollution-free visitor transport system will be increased in other zoos of the State.
The Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park at Tirupati at present has five battery- operated vehicles and five more are to be added while the fleet of four at Indira Gandhi Zoological Park, Visakhapatnam, will get added with six more vehicles.
