Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Jan 13: If all goes as per plan, the Nandankanan Zoological Park (NZP) would soon resume toy train service at the zoo to woo thousands of young visitors.
The toy train service was defunct for over six months due to technical glitches and poor maintenance. The 1.56km-long train ride is very popular among the visitors. Even some Oriya films were shot on the location. The zoo authorities were charging `10 for a trip when it was operational.
Sources said, the zoo authorities were floating tenders to hire a firm to revive the services.
“As the service was suspended for a long time, we have decided to restart it at the earliest by roping in a firm for better management. It would be revived within six months,” NZP director Sudershan Panda said.
A senior zoo official told this newspaper the service was rolled out in 1985 and can ferry 60 passengers at a time and the ride lasts 20 minutes.
“NZP was operating the train service till 2008 and had to privatise the service owing to various reasons,” he added.
The track was refurbished by the zoo authorities in 2008. As per a rough estimate, nearly 1.5 lakh tourists were travelling in the toy train annually.
On the contrary, it was alleged that several tenders had been floated by the NZP, but no firm has agreed to ensure regular maintenance of the train in addition to operating the service.
“We regularly visit NZP and it is disheartening that the toy train is still lying defunct. Children are very keen to take a ride,” said a Saheed Nagar-based IT professional Biplab Kumar Parida.
