Meeting a long-pending demand, the district administration on Saturday launched city bus service to Pilikula Nisargadhama – a popular tourist spot on the outskirts of the city that has a zoological park, science centre, heritage village and a private water park.
Some of the buses heading to nearby Moodushedde will now take visitors right up to the parking area in the Nisargadhama. They will also pick up those returning from the tourist spot to the city. “A bus will be bus available every 30 minutes,” Nelson Peirera, president of the City Bus Operators Union said, adding that they had had four meetings with officials and operators to arrive at the time schedule.
People could board these buses from State Bank Circle and Kankanady bus stand. There will be one bus from Talapady which leaves at 9.18 a.m.. While the buses from State Bank Circle will start from 8.25 a.m., those from Kankanady will start from 9.35 a.m. The last bus from Pilikula to the city will be at 6.50 p.m. In all, there will be 20 trips to Pilikula.
Regional Transport Officer Afzal Ahmed Khan, who is the Member Secretary of the District Road Transport Authority, said they had to tweak the route timings of some of the buses coming to Moodushedde to facilitate a diversion to Pilikula. “We also had to give additional time for some of the buses,” he said.
A bus operator said that private buses were willing to operate buses through Pilikula. “But there was resistance from the administrators of Nisargadhama over the entry of buses.” K.V. Rao from the Pilikula Science Centre said this was mainly because wild animals that were staying close to the entrance of the zoo would be disturbed. “As the animals have been moved a fair distance away, there is no issue of disturbance now.” Moreover, the area now was a hub to many activities that brought people from different parts of the district and State, he said.
At the function, executive director of Pilikula Nisargadhama S.A. Prabhakar Sharma said the new facility will bring in more visitors to the ecological area. “We had 6 lakh visitors last year. We hope to get around 7 lakh visitors this time.” Mr. Sharma said there had been a drop in the number of visitors in the last few weeks. “We hope to get more people during the festive season. The bus facility will certainly lead to an increase in the number of visitors,” he said.
