shweta kamat
PANJIM: The Bondla Zoo Master Plan, first drafted almost a decade ago and aiming at a complete makeover to Goa’s only zoo, is yet to see the light of day. With it being relegated to the shelves, Forest Department has now drafted a new proposal, that the State government has in-principle agreed to fund. The project is awaiting the approval of the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest.
Spread over an area of around 10 hectares and enveloped by the wildlife sanctuary on all sides, the Bondla zoo was initially established as an animal rescue centre of the Forest Department in 1969. It was accorded the status of ‘small zoo’ by the CZA in 2006.
After that, in 2008, the State Forest Department proposed a Zoo Master Plan, which was supposed to be executed in phases over a period of ten years. As per the master plan, the area of the zoo was to be increased from 10 hectares to 40 hectares. They had also proposed to increase the number of animal species in the zoo along with improved facilities for visitors.
“A fresh proposal has been moved to CZA. The project will be totally funded by the State,” a Forest Department official said. “It is been over nine months since we are struggling to develop the Bondla zoo, which is a major attraction for students and families,” the official added.
While CZA had approved the first proposal, the then government failed to make the necessary provision in its Budget of 2009-10, thus delaying its implementation. Unfortunately, successive governments continued to give the project a miss, thus forcing CZA to direct Forest authorities to draft a new plan.
“The first phase of the project was supposed to be executed in 2008 itself. However, lack of funding forced the department not to go ahead with it during that period, though the ground work like demarcation, had already commenced,” the official explained. The official said that since the project was in phases, with each phase in every year till 2018, the delay in execution of the first two phases, stalled the entire plan, forcing a new draft.
It was only in 2016, that Forest Department decided to rework the master plan. However, CZA, that was supposed to provide 50 percent funding for the project, declined to provide finance at the last moment.
