BARNARD Harrison & Sons, a Singapore-based company, has been shortlisted for further negotiations on preparation of master plan for the international standard zoo and safari at Gorewada, situated on the outskirts of the city.
The Forest Department has authorised Jarnail Singh, Director of Gorewada Zoo Project, for undertaking further discussion and action on this ambitious project. In all, three parties had shown interest in preparing the master plan but Barnard Harrison & Sons has been shortlisted because of its wide experience in the field of zoo and safari designing, management and consultations to various institutions dealing in creation of zoo and management.
The same company is also engaged in creation of a night safari at Noida. It is in-charge for the famous Singapore zoo and safari for over two decades and it was instrumental in creating night safari at Singapore. The higher authorities have directed Jarnail Singh to visit reputed zoos and bio-parks situated at Delhi, Hyderabad and other places in the country to collect information and seek their assistance for preparing proposals for getting sanction of Central Zoo Authority for the proposed zoo, which is first of its kind in Central India. Under the project, protection related preparatory works like boundary wall, gates, watch towers, avenue plantation, landscaping, training to staff, office-set up, procurement of vehicles, transport and communication infrastructure etc would be taken up during the current year. The actual zoo work would begin once the master plan is prepared.
Meanwhile, the filling up of 55 sanctioned posts out of the total of 350 posts from the department’s existing staff would be completed in a month or so.
It is reported that Maharashtra Remote Sensing Application Centre, Nagpur, which had surveyed Gorewada for slope map for proposed areas, has almost completed the field work and map. It is shortly submitting the copies of map to Forest Department. Assistance is being sought from Geological Department, Botany Department of Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University, NEERI and Sevadal Mahila Mahavidyalaya for data base collection for preparing master plan and for taking up studies on documentation of floral, fauna and aquatic life at the proposed site. In addition, the centre would prepare vegetation and land use maps for zoo site. The department has planned to organise a workshop on ‘Role of Zoo in Wildlife Protection and Conservation’ in co-operation with Sevadal Mahila Mahavidyalaya during the first week of October to mark Wildlife Week in which university and college teachers and students would be involved.
http://nagpurestate.wordpress.com/2007/08/31/nagpur-zoo-and-singapur-link/
