VISAKHAPATNAM: Protests over the proposal to shift Indira Gandhi Zoological Park continue in the city with various NGOs and Opposition parties hitting the roads and showing their concern for the natural habitat. CPM leaders and some NGOs staged a protest and convened meetings.
Schoolchildren in large numbers with face masks staged a protest at the Gandhi statue near the GVMC building appealing to authorities not to shift the zoo and harm the animals. The members of Vizag Children Club (VCC) won laurels from the passing motorists who were impressed with the children’s concern for the animals. VCC member GV Satyakumari said that the zoo, a natural habitat with 80 to 100 species of animals, was very close to the city. A large number of children go to the zoo on weekends to learn about environmental aspects. It is completely a wrong decision to shift the zoo, the agitators felt.
Social Media Club along with Forum of Legal Professionals had a roundtable in Visakha Public Library. They opined that the government officials has been citing silly reasons to shift the zoo somehow. The speakers said that the officials had trotted out a specious reason that the zoo triggers man-animal conflict since it is near to the city. But there is no such threat.
The CPM leaders too staged a protest at the RTC Complex junction alleging that the government was even eyeing natural habitats in the name of development. They asked the government to drop the proposal, if not the protests would be intensified in the ensuing days.