Coimbatore Corporation will take up the development of VOC Park Zoo under the Smart Cities Mission.
The civic body had decided to use Smart Cities Mission fund to finance the zoo project and it would place a subject before the Coimbatore Smart City Limited Board for approval, Commissioner Sravan Kumar Jatavath said.
The Corporation has estimated to spend ₹ 32 crore for developing the zoo at the land it owns adjacent to the Coimbatore Central Prison.
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Sources familiar with the zoo project said the detailed project report for developing the zoo was under preparation. Once the consultant engaged for preparing the report completed the work, the Corporation would place it before the Central Zoo Authority for approval and take up construction of the zoo as per the latter’s instruction.
The sources said the Corporation could ask the Board to set aside ₹ 32 crore from the money it had set aside to be used for processing the legacy waste at Vellalore as the Smart Cities Mission funds it had received were tied to various projects.
The sources also said that the Corporation had 45 acre adjacent to the prison. Of the 45 acre, it would exclude around 20 acre that would act as buffer zone between the proposed zoo and the Prison compound. Of the remaining 25 acre, the Corporation was mandated to give around 5.75 acre to the Tamil Nadu Sports Development Authority. The Corporation was exploring if it should allot the 5.75 acre that was contiguous with its land or go in for a land swap. The discussion regarding how to proceed was under way and the Corporation would take a call before it approached the Central Zoo Authority with the report, the sources added.
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The latest move to fund the zoo project under the Smart Cities Mission comes as the civic body has been trying one way or the other for its development for the past three years.