Animals and visitors not the only targets of Revanth’s new zoo park plans

More than setting up a new zoo park in 1,000 acres, which can incur a lot of expenditure, there were many other priorities that needed to be focused upon, said FGG president M Padmanabha Reddy

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s plans to establish a new zoo park on the outskirts of Hyderabad has triggered quite a few doubts over the actual intentions behind such a move, especially given the financial constraints of such a step, the difficulties in getting necessary approvals and most importantly, the need for another zoo in the capital region.

The Forum for Good Governance, for one, has questioned the State government’s priorities.

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The existing Nehru Zoo Park at Bahadurpura was one of the best in the country and if it did not have enough space, establishing a new one could be good, said FGG president M Padmanabha Reddy.

However, more than setting up a new zoo park in 1,000 acres, which can incur a lot of expenditure, there were many other priorities that needed to be focused upon, he said. The health and education sectors were crippled.

Work on double bedroom houses were pending and the Indiramma Housing programme was yet to take off, not to mention the poor road infrastructure, he added.

“The State government is securing a lot of loans for executing different works. At this juncture, establishing a new zoo park in 1,000 acres with a lot of money should be thought about only after key priorities are handled,” Padmanabha Reddy said.

Meanwhile, the Forest department has a different perspective. Apart from availability of land, securing permissions from the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) is a major challenge. The Kammadanam forest block near Shadnagar, one of the possible locations, is spread over nearly 700 acres. But again, the CZA has to be convinced about the necessity of establishing a new zoo hardly 30 to 40 km away from the existing one.

The zoo park at Mahabubnagar, though a small one, too would be pointed out, with the presence of three zoos in near proximity of each to be questioned.

To overcome this, if the State government suggests any other far off location, the distance from the city would be a factor since ensuring enough footfalls could be a challenge. To maintain a zoo park, visitors’ footfalls, that too in large numbers, were essential, a senior Forest official said.

Moreover, right from the proposal stage to securing permissions from the CZA, the entire process could take at least three to four years. And then, the expenditure to set up the park in such a way so as to attract visitors and sourcing wild animals could be really huge, the official said.

And this is where the actual intentions behind such a proposal come into play. Presenting a new dimension of the plan, a senior real estate developer from the city says the announcement could be more about spurring real estate activity, with the sector in the capital region not performing quite well since the last few months.

It may be recalled that the foundation was laid for a new High Court complex in 100 acres of the agriculture university, Rajendranagar. Now, by announcing a new zoo park, it appears that attempts are being made to boost the real estate sector towards that side of the city, he pointed out.

“As it is, many developers make quick money showcasing their ventures close to airports or other landmarks. The proposed new zoo park could turn into another marketing gimmick for such people,” the real estate developer said, adding that in fact, the zoo park proposal could be just an eye-wash announcement with the project to be kept on the backburner once the desired results, read ‘real estate profits’, were made.