Sisir Acharya recently took charge as director of Nandankanan Zoological Park (NZP). He has earlier been RCCF, Sambalpur and Chief Conservator of Forests, Sambalpur. The officer wants to focus on making NZP one of the best tourist destinations in the state and believes proper environment and facilities are must for that to happen. Acharya spoke with Monalisa Patsani of Orissa POST about his plans. Excerpts from the interview:
Q What are your priority areas for development of NZP?
A) My main focus is to complete pending works. Only after that I will think about new projects. First, we have to get the ropeway in working order; it has not been working for the past many years. Work on construction of the ropeway will be given to Damodar ropeways and Infra Limited which has been already approved by the government. The ropeway will be completely new. Later work on toy train will be started. It will take roughly two years to complete the project. Both toy train and ropeway are important as they can be major tourist attractions.
Q What other plans are in the pipeline?
A) At present the zoo does not have CCTV surveillance. We have decided to install these at all enclosures and at all major points in the zoo. Lakhs of tourists visit NZP and I have realised that our approach is not up to the mark. It is the largest zoo in India, but the entrance of the zoo looks shabby. We are also thinking of making the entrance more attractive. The zoo also has no proper parking space owing to which during the peak tourist season, parking becomes a major problem. So developing a multi-storey parking space is also on the anvil. A meeting has also been held in this regard.
Q When will renovation of the Kanjia lake begin?
A) Kanjia lake is the lifeline of NZP, so its development is also of utmost priority for us. Deweeding of the lake will begin soon and if any of the channels is blocked it will also be cleared. It is a major tourist attraction as it offers boating facility. The lake will be beautified and we have also decided that the number of boats be increased.
Q What is state of negotiations with Alipore zoo on getting a replacement for male giraffe Joy which died recently?
A) Negotiations are under way with the Alipore Zoo authority. The post-mortem report of Joy along with other details have been sent to them, and we have requested them to consider the case. But the decision rests on the Alipore Zoo authority and we can’t force them to do anything because Joy had been delivered live to NZP.
Q When are the five caymans to arrive at NZP?
A) The date is yet to be finalised. But they will come from Chennai Crocodile Bank Trust.
Q NZP had planned to preserve the skeleton of Joy. Will it begin soon?
A) I don’t have any information about that and will have to find out. I had read that the skeleton of an elephant that died at NZP a few years back was preserved and displayed at Regional Museum of Natural History. I think it would be good if we preserve the skeleton of the giraffe and display it as well at museum. But we will need permissions from higher authorities to do that.
