A five-member team from the National Zoological Park of Washington DC will be visiting Indira Gandhi Zoological Park from January 21 to 26 to study the scope of development for expanding the facilities of the zoo park in line with international standards. The team from Washington DC is the consultant of World Bank.
“So far, Rs 6 crore has been released by World Bank under the AP Disaster Recovery Project (out of the total sanctioned amount of Rs 36 crore) for redevelopment of the zoo post Cyclone Hudhud, but the funds are lying unutilised. The team from US will assist us in making a feasible plan that will be holistic. We are currently in the process of finalising a consultant for preparing the master plan for post-Hudhud restoration and development works,” zoo curator B. Vijay Kumar told The Hindu . IGZP has already prepared a tentative project plan of Rs 40 crore and submitted it to the Union Government.
The US team will also be visiting Kambalakonda Eco-Tourism Park, one the popular tourism spots, which was badly damaged during the Cyclone Hudhud. Later in February, a five-member team from the zoo and the Forest Department will visit Washington DC to study and finalise the project plan in collaboration with the World Bank’s consultants.
Two years ago, cyclone Hudhud had barrelled the zoo park leaving behind a trail of destruction. While the revival of the green cover has been a positive story, the effect of Hudhud can be felt in several pending repair works that await attention. The initial repairs were done by the funds of Rs 2 crore from the Central Zoo Authority and an additional Rs 2 crore was used from the zoo gate revenue. Once the World Bank team gives a feasibility plan, additional infrastructure will be added, which will also include disaster management facilities to be better equipped during natural calamities, zoo curator Vijay Kumar said.
The cyclone had uprooted 2,000 trees in the zoo park, damaged 1,000 metres of zoo compound wall, water pipelines and 3.6 km of visitor’s road network.
