COIMBATORE: Based on TNIE's report, the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) has revised the design of its proposed public swimming pool at the former deer enclosure inside VOC Zoological Park, ensuring that decades-old banyan trees are spared from the axe.
Earlier, the CCMC had planned to uproot more than 20 trees, including at least eight massive banyan trees believed to be nearly five decades old, to make way for the swimming pool project estimated at Rs 1.94 crore. However, following a detailed report published by TNIE on February 4 titled 'Deer park, toy train at Kovai's VOC Zoo Park to be razed for public swimming pool', officials revisited the plan and modified the design to minimise ecological damage.
Established in 1965 and spread across 4.5 acres, the VOC Zoological Park has long been an iconic landmark of Coimbatore. In 1992, a toy train, along with the 'VOC Park Station', was inaugurated inside the deer enclosure, becoming a major attraction for generations of visitors.
However, years of neglect led to the Central Zoo Authority suspending the zoo's licence in 2018, and the facility was permanently closed in January 2022. Although successive CCMC budgets from FY 2023-24 proposed redeveloping the zoo into an aviary (bird park), no progress was made.
In this context, the foundation stone for a public swimming pool was laid on January 31 by the Coimbatore MP in the presence of the district collector, CCMC commissioner and mayor. The proposal triggered sharp criticism from environmentalists and activists, especially due to plans to axe large banyan trees and dismantle the toy train track and station.
Following the TNIE report, CCMC revised the project layout. A senior civic official said the swimming pool has now been shifted towards the western side of the deer enclosure, away from the cluster of banyans and other trees on the eastern side. "Only a small portion of the VOC Park's land will be used. The VOC Park Station building, ticket counters, train tracks and the compound wall separating the park and the deer enclosure will be demolished to accommodate the revised plan. This ensures that the banyans remain untouched," the official said.
Environmentalists welcomed the decision. K Syed, environmentalist and member of the District Green Committee, said the CCMC initially failed to disclose details about tree felling. "After TNIE's report, we inspected the site and reviewed the project. The design has now been completely revised. Only three trees will be uprooted, including one of which is a dried and dead Albizia lebbeck (Vagai), along with a sandalwood and a mayflower tree. The four to five-decade-old banyans will be left as is," he said.
Speaking to TNIE, CCMC Commissioner M Sivaguru Prabakaran confirmed that the officials were instructed to carry out the project works with minimal environmental and ecosystem damage. "The designs were revised to prevent the felling of the decades-old banyans for the swimming pool."