BHUBANESWAR: The aerial ropeway project at Nandankanan Zoological Park could start operations as early as October-end or early next month. The much-vaunted service is ready for operation and awaiting nod from the government. All work on the project has been completed and the Works department is carrying out its inspection prior to issuing operational licence, sources said.
The project implemented in PPP mode will be made operational by a private agency with support from the park. Kolkata-based Damodar Ropeway Infra Limited (DRIL), which had signed an agreement with the zoo in October 2021, had been given 18 months time to construct and operationalise the project. The government had accorded all permissions to the firm for the ropeway construction at an investment of around Rs 13 crore.
“As the Works department is the authority for according licence to operate, the operating agency has applied for the same and it is being examined,” said a senior zoo official. The ropeway will start from the zoo campus and culminate at the botanical garden. It will cover a distance of 626 metre. It has been constructed with mono-cable with two towers. It has 12 cabins, each having capacity to accommodate three to six persons.
The zoo under its 2040 master plan submitted to the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has also proposed a ‘night out programme’ and ‘nocturnal trail’ for visitors, especially students. It has also planned expansion of its existing safaris in the extended areas of Chudanga reserve forest and Krushna Nagar protected forest that have been merged with the Zoological Park, a couple of years back.