SHILLONG, May 20: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Saturday assured that the under-construction zoo at Umtrew, Ri-Bhoi, will be soon up and running for the tourists.
He said after reviewing the work progress of the zoo, the foundation stone for which was laid back in October 2019.
During his visit to the zoo, the chief minister directed the officials to complete all remaining works and procedural matters relating to recognition of the zoo by Central Zoo Authority (CZA) by June 30.
Asking the officials to work tirelessly towards the completion of the zoo, Conrad also suggested that the local or private parties shall be engaged to run ancillary activities such as ticketing, cafeteria, souvenir shop, food stall, vehicle services, etc.
“It has been a very satisfactory visit for me today at the Meghalaya Zoological Park. The infrastructure would be ready for tourists soon. After the concerned clearances provided by Government of India, and Central Zoo Authority, we will open the gates for visitors. We aim to create more tourism facilities such as trekking paths, ropeway, children’s park, interpretation centre within the zoo premises to increase tourist footfall,” the chief minister said.
It may be mentioned that the project, coming up on approximately 72 hectares of land at Umtrew, is being undertaken at an approximate cost of Rs 35 crore.
The first phase of the work includes construction of 15 animal’s enclosures, Visitor’s Plaza, Cafeteria, Veterinary Clinic, Feed Store, Main Gate etc.
Once ready, the zoo is likely to be home to barking deer, sambar deer, hog deer, serow, jackal, fox, Himalayan black bear, jungle cat, civet cat, leopard cat, leopard, clouded leopard, hoolock gibbon, stump tailed macaque, Assamese macaque, et al.
