Odisha: Nandankanan Zoo reopens for visitors after three months

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], August 4 (ANI): Bhubaneswar's Nandankandan Zoological Park has reopened after a gap of 94 days today.

Sanjeet Kumar, the Deputy Director of the Nandankanan Zoo, informed that the priority is to keep everyone safe from the virus and have them enjoy and learn about nature.

"Our priority is to keep everyone safe from Covid, be it animals or people. We want people to enjoy and learn about nature. Covid norms like social distancing, mask-wearing and sanitisation are being taken care of. Those flouting the Covid norms will be fined," said Kumar.

He also said that measures like shifts would be considered in case of an increase in footfall and provided some guidance on how one could get his tickets booked.

"We are expecting footfall to be less than ten thousand people a day. In case the footfall goes up, we will consider measures like shifts to segregate people and ensure social distancing. People can book their tickets online through the website and the app of the zoo. However, there is no re-scheduling right now," added Kumar.

Visitors were quite happy and thrilled with their experience at the zoo after such a long time.

"The zoo is big. It has many great animals. Our Indian zoos are good and people must visit. All the Covid norms are being followed even though me and my family are fully vaccinated" said Deepak, a tourist from Gujarat.

"We were waiting for the zoo to re-open for a long time. It is well managed, clean and Covid corms are being followed," said Rupesh, another tourist.

Earlier in March this year, Odisha had started putting lockdowns and curfews yet again due to the rise in cases of Covid-19 that led to the second wave of the pandemic. (ANI)