Nandankanan Zoological park reopens for visitors

Bhubaneswar: After remaining closed for more than two weeks post cyclone Fani, which hit coastal districts of Odisha on May 3, Nandankanan Zoological Park reopened today. The botanical garden on the premises of Nandankanan also reopened, said sources.

The zoological park was closed for an indefinite period after the extremely severe cyclone hit Odisha earlier this month. While several enclosures built for the animals, birds and reptiles were damaged, hundreds of trees at the zoo and medicinal plants at the botanical garden were also either uprooted or damaged due to Fani.

"I was in the railway station when I got the news that the Nandankanan is reopening after a gap of 19 days after the cyclone. Everything seems to be empty here now after the cyclone. What we had seen in TV, we are now witnessing the same. Many trees have been damaged and uprooted, " said Aravind Sekhar, a visitor from Kendrapara.

Speaking about the reopening, a Zoo official said, "We are very happy that people from different parts of the country have arrived here to see the animals and birds enthusiastically. Though there was no causality during the cyclone, we incurred a loss of around Rs 4.5 crore due to the cyclone."

Post cyclone, the zoo authorities carried out the restoration work on a war footing and decided to reopen it today.