Forest and Environment Minister Pradip Kumar Amat on Friday inaugurated the much-awaited ropeway facility at the Nandankanan Zoo in Bhubaneswar.
The ropeway facility is not new for the zoo as it had been lying defunct. As the refurbished facility has been inaugurated, the visitors will now enjoy the aerial ride from the zoo to the botanical garden, getting a panoramic view. Visitors can avail of the facility from tomorrow and to enjoy the ride, a visitor has to pay Rs 120.
“It will be operated with full safety and security. We have all the permissions required to operate the facility. The facility can run both on electricity and power generators. During normal hours, it will run on electricity. But if there is no power supply, it will run on generators. Before starting, we will check it in the morning. And there will be daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, and annual inspections,” said Mahesh Mohata, vice chairman of marketing of Damodar Ropeways & Infra Limited, the implementing agency of the ropeway project.
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ACF Nandankanan, Sarat Sahu said, “There are 12 cabins. While at any given time, 72 visitors can enjoy the ride, a maximum of 400 visitors can enjoy the facility in an hour. The ticket price is Rs 120. Last year, we had a record of 38 lakh visitors. This year, we are getting 15,000 visitors daily. We are sure that the number of visitors will increase with the inauguration of the facility.”
When asked about the safety and security of the visitors, he said, “The engineers of the Odisha government have done a thorough inspection of the facility. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has also given its certificate after its jawans did mock drills twice. From the security point of view, it is safe.”