PATNA: Come July 1, and children would not be allowed to play on the Patna zoo premises in morning hours. Also, joggers would have to secure passes to enter the premises from 5am to 7.45am.
The passes would have a price tag. While a monthly pass would be issued on payment of Rs 60, the quarterly pass would cost Rs 150 and the annual pass Rs 500.
Application forms for these passes would be available at the zoo’s gate number 1 and 2 from June 1. Priced at Rs 10, the form contains columns seeking general details like name, address, e-mail ID and contact number of the applicant who would also have to submit two recent photographs along with the form. The pass would be issued later after the form is processed. Expired passes could be renewed by depositing the requisite fee.
As per the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) rules, zoos in the country do not allow morning walk on their premises. However, the CZA has given its nod to the Patna zoo as a special case to allow morning walk in view of the lack of adequate green zones in the city.
“An estimated 5,000 joggers currently come to the zoo every morning,” zoo deputy director Pravin Kumar said and added the crowd causes inconvenience to the inmates.
The zoo authorities hope the pass system would lead to fewer morning walkers in the zoo. There’s no move as of now to introduce pass system for evening walkers apparently because they do not number more than a hundred.