Now Reading: Develop two Andhra zoos on Singapore Mandai lines: House panel
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Develop two Andhra zoos on Singapore Mandai lines: House panel
Andhra Pradesh's Legislature Committee on Wildlife & Environment Protection has recommended developing the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park, Visakhapatnam, and Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park, Tirupati, on the lines of Singapore's Mandai Wildlife Reserve.…
Andhra Pradesh's Legislature Committee on Wildlife & Environment Protection has recommended developing the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park, Visakhapatnam, and Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park, Tirupati, on the lines of Singapore's Mandai Wildlife Reserve. The first report of the committee, tabled in the Assembly on Thursday, proposes filling vacant posts, appointing additional veterinary staff, introducing a toy train, boosting PPP initiatives, and raising annual budgets for both zoos.
For Visakhapatnam's zoo, the committee suggested mobilising Rs 3 crore from MPLADS funds and integrating the zoo with Kambalakonda Wildlife Sanctuary, the beach, and Kailasagiri into one tourism circuit. For Tirupati's zoo, recommendations include free bus service, zoo ticket counters in Tirumala, a dedicated water pipeline, multilingual guides, and funds from TTD. Only 4% of pilgrims visiting Tirumala are estimated to currently visit the zoo.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Committee on Wildlife & Environment Protection, headed by the Speaker, is a rare parliamentary body focused solely on the state's wildlife assets. The report's first-of-its-kind status signals growing political attention on Tirupati and Visakhapatnam zoos as tourism revenue generators, not just conservation centres. The comparison with Singapore’s Mandai Wildlife Reserve sets an aspirational benchmark that would require far higher capital expenditure than the recommended ₹3 crore per annum from CSR or MPLADS funds. For Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park (SVZP), which sits near one of India's busiest temple pilgrimage routes, the key unmet potential is staggering: only 4% of Tirumala's estimated three crore annual visitors currently visit the zoo, per the report. The next concrete device to watch is whether the state government accepts these recommendations in the upcoming budget session and earmarks the additional funds.
Source: thehindu.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
