With leaf coming off the trees, the hourglass is emptying its sand for Mahrajbagh zoo. A zoo which is one of the prominent places known in the city has turned into a litter ground. With no management as an attempt, one can observe plastic packets all around the garden. At the same time the lawn is noticed to be unmaintained as shrubs and weeds have grown in patches and have not been trimmed.
The Nagpur bench of Bombay high court, worried about the condition of the zoo gave orders to Central Zoo Authority (CZA) to look after the zoo but in the mean while Punjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth (PDKV) has been known to take no efforts at all.
Mahrajbagh zoo earns enough to maintain its premises through gate fee. With visitors being as high as 4,000 in numbers, per day Maharajbagh Zoo earns rupees 1.50 crore from the gate fee.
The visitors have also noticed stray dogs roaming inside the zoo and making the surround more unhygienic as the dogs are known to spread garbage and pull out disposed food items out of dustbins.
P.S Nikose who is the contractor for zoo maintenance and has been for a long time gets rupees 1.60 lakh per month as the fee for maintenance. Yet the zoo seems to be at its ruins.
According to Nikose the minimum wage being 250 rupees per day he is not able to fulfill the terms and hence he has stopped working until he talks to the officials.
