Jammu, Sep 25: Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta on Monday called for improving footfall in Jambu Zoo at Nagrota here by making visitors coming to the city aware of its features and location. He said there is no advertisement before the zoo to attract the onlookers. 

On his visit to the zoo, the Chief Secretary reviewed the facilities being provided to the visitors there besides the overall functioning of the Zoological Park thrown open to the public last year. 

While making his observations, the Chief Secretary observed that the school children and other nature lovers could also be imparted with awareness about animals, their behaviour and salient features related to them. He impressed upon the authorities that to make the tourists aware of this attraction, big permanent hoardings at the airport, railway station and en route should be installed to attract the attention of visitors. He also advised that lakhs of pilgrims visiting the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi shrine need to be encouraged to stop by for refreshments here as the zoo falls on their route to the cave shrine. 

Dr Mehta also took note of the closed cafeteria and Nature Interpretation Centre on the campus. He called for making both these facilities functional forthwith so that people coming to the Zoo find it all-inclusive and informative. He told them to make available the traditional foods of Jammu in the Cafeteria including those made from Millet as these are healthy and in demand all over the nation.

The Chief Secretary while visiting different animal enclosures complimented the staff for keeping all the animals in good shape. He asked them to take care of all these animals to keep them healthy and lively. Regarding other interventions, he suggested that the Tiger could be brought in easily by the 15th and Lion by the 25th of October very easily. He remarked that such animals are liked by most of the people and would allure most of the visitors including children. He enjoined them to think about bringing in the Hippopotamus as an added attraction to the Zoological Park. 

The Chief Secretary remarked that given the hot weather of Jammu in the summer season, the authorities should envisage keeping the zoo open for the public in morning and evening hours too. He enjoined them to think in terms of opening the Zoo from 7.00-10.00 am and 5.00-9.00 pm during hot weather days so that people have some cool place to visit during this weather.

He took note of some sinking portions of land there. He directed for roping in the concerned experts for its careful study and suggested some low-cost remedial measures to address this issue at the earliest. Those who accompanied him on the occasion included Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF); the Divisional Commissioner, Jammu; Deputy Commissioner, Jammu; Chief Wild Life Warden; Zoo Manager besides other concerned officers of the Department.