By Altaf Hussain Janjua

Feb 4: Jambu Zoo, located on the Berlab of Srinagar National Highway, a few kilometers away from Jammu, the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir, will be opened for tourists in April this year.

The structure is being constructed on an area of 1200 kanals in this lofty house consisting of 3200 kanals of land. The construction and development of the zoo is in final stages and only inspection by Central Zoo Authority is pending which will soon inspect it after which it will be registered.

Most of the construction work in the zoo has been done by the Jammu and Kashmir Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation. Black topping is being done on its internal roads and tiles are also being laid on the paths. Ticketing, cafeteria, parking will be outsourced for which tenders will be issued soon and everything will be done by the end of next month.

Officials said that the Wildlife Department has already obtained the necessary approval from the Central Zoo Authority. After that, Manda Zoo should be transferred to Jumbo Zoo.

Crocodile of Haryana, blackbuck of Delhi, bear of Karnataka, cheetah of Gujarat, Sugar of Bengal etc will be the centre of attraction for tourists at Jumbo Zoo. There will also be a vehicle to go inside the zoo.

The zoo will be the largest zoo in North India and will also have an open entertainment theatre and park for children. The zoo will have battery-powered vehicles for tourists to travel around. This facility will be a major attraction for tourists in the city. He said that at present the wildlife department has 10 battery powered cars and 10 more will be purchased very soon to meet the demand of tourists.

Expressions of interest are being expressed for the purchase of 10 battery-powered cars and an outsourcing company will supply as well as operate the cars for the opening of the zoo.

Local people are quite excited about this, it will give a lot of boost to tourism in Jammu.