The much-awaited zoological park in the vicinity of the capital city Amaravati will be a reality soon.
The State government has, apparently, finalised the proposal to develop the zoo in the Kondapalli Reserve Forest area. It has “grandiose plans” to develop a world-class zoo there.
A team of officials from the Forest Department would visit Singapore shortly to study the park there as the government is chalking out plans to develop the park on its lines.
The government may have to shell out ₹200 crore to ₹300 crore to develop the park, expected to come up over 300 acres. The Forest Department found that 890 acres was available in Kondapalli. They are planning to ask the government to earmark ₹100 crore in the budget for the 2019-20 financial year.
The proposals would be sent to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests so that a bit of Kondapalli Reserve Forest could be converted into the park. The Central Zoo Authority of India would also have to give a nod to go ahead with the proposal. It is expected that it would take at least two months to get the clearances, officials say.
The government, initially, scouted for suitable land in Tadepalli, Kondapalli, Kondaveedu and other places. The forest officials favoured Kondapalli though about 240-hectare reserve forest land is available in Tadepalli.
Weighing the options
The officials feel that Tadepalli is not suitable as at least 60 to 70-acre plain land is required for the zoo, which is not possible there. A mini zoo might be possible but not a world-class zoo.
When contacted, Forests and Environment Minister Sidda Raghava Rao said the government planned to send a team to study the Singapore Zoo shortly. The idea is to lay a foundation stone by February 2019. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has responded positively to the proposals. The government is keen on taking up the project at the earliest, he says.
Grand vision
Post bifurcation, the zoos exist only in Visakhapatnam and Tirupati. In line with its grand vision envisaging world-class facilities at Amaravati, the government has mooted the idea of setting up a zoo in the core capital.
The government had scouted for land to set up the zoological park, night safari and a botanical park.
