Attract more visitors, officals told

Tirupati: The Sri Venkateswara (SV) Zoological Park here will be further developed to attract more visitors, said Forest Minister Sidda Raghava Rao. Reviewing with the officials on the occasion of the concluding of 64th wildlife week celebrations on Monday, he directed them to prepare plans with the sole objective of attracting visitors with new initiatives.

All the roads in the Zoo Park should be made cement roads and facilities have to be provided so that visitors should get relaxed from their busy lives. He asked the officials to prepare proposal for the construction of rooms to visitors at the site opposite to Zoo Park.

The Minister directed the Zoo authorities to explore the possibilities of bringing new wild animals in addition to the existing 1,800 animals here by contacting the officials of other Zoo parks in the country. Without having any budget constraint, plans should be formulated, and government will explore the possibilities of mobilising the resources through PPP mode or from Centre, Rao said.

Earlier, speaking at the valedictory function of Wildlife Week celebrations, the Minister said that everyone has the responsibility of protecting and preserving the wild animals and forest wealth.

Through ‘Vanam-Manam’ programme, the green cover in AP will go up to 50 per cent by 2029. Already, the state stands at top place among the 29 states in maintenance of greenery. The government has completed 18 eco-tourism projects in the state and planning to establish more Zoo parks.

On the occasion, the Minister planted saplings and visited the photo exhibition and said that last year 21 crore saplings were planted in the state whereas this year the target was fixed at 26 crore saplings. Wildlife week was being held at 545 places in the state to bring awareness among school students. He has distributed medals to meritorious staff and certificates to the 70 students, who were the winners of various competitions.

MP Dr N Sivaprasad has said that wild animals were considered as vehicles of various gods and there is every need to protect them. MLA M Suguna, MLCs Y Srinivasulu Reddy and B Rajasimhulu also spoke. PCCF (Wildlife) Nalini Mohan, CCF Saravanan, Zoo Park curator Babitha and other officials were present.

Later, Raghava Rao inspected red sanders logs godown in Tirupati and had gone through the stock registers. He told the officials to keep the seized red sanders in the godown itself and not to keep at forest offices or police stations. Red sanders should be kept in the godown after grading it as A, B and C categories so that interested can buy them by participating in tenders and can also check the quality of logs very easily.