Private buses have been taken for Gorewada safari to deal with weekend rush
An employee of the zoo, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also confirmed that the weekend was indeed a busy one.
Nagpur: Due to all the children’s holidays and this ongoing festive season there has been a huge increase in the number of visitors to Gorewada Zoo Safari. Due to which the authorities are being forced to run private buses too much to handle this load. Around 2 private buses will join the existing fleet owned by Gorewada to ferry people to and from the Safari Zone on this Saturday and Sunday.
The Divisional Manager, whose name is Pramod Panchbhai. Who completely oversees the Balasaheb Thackeray International Zoological Park, has said that, “I’m on vacation right now so can’t tell you the tourist load for today at all. But yes based on this trial we have got private buses only for weekends. At present we also have an existing fleet of about 5 buses. Out of which 1 canter is also included in this. Each of our buses also has a carrying capacity of about 38. There is also a very rapid increase in the number of these visitors on weekends.”
An employee of the zoo, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Also confirmed that the weekend was indeed a busy one. That employee said that “Well now we’re returning those visitors, it’s so busy. This is probably related to the festival holidays of Diwali as relatives of many people used to come to meet him. In today’s time we also have Temo Traveler and 1 big bus. In which about 15-20 people brought with the help of 1 private contractor live.”
Safety issues with private buses
Officials also said that the increase in the number of visitors to Gorewada does not violate any ‘carrying capacity’ rule at all. Panchbhai has said that this is a zoo. That’s why, unlike TATR or Pench, we don’t have any limits on visitors. Our infrastructure is very well equipped to handle around one thousand visitors every day.
However, many employees have also raised concerns over the safety issues with these private buses. “The windows that are inside these buses can also be opened. And it is completely unsafe in the non-vegetarian section. Our biggest fear is that any curious visitor could open the window for 1 nice picture. And then risk their lives too much.” the employee said.
Pramod maintains that while this concern is genuine. It may not be a factor at all within Gorewada. Pramod has said that in every bus there is also a guide. Because of this, visitors are well monitored. All our staff will ensure the complete compliance of each and every safety norms. Well before the commencement of this safari.
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