Nandankanan safari stuck in tender process

BHUBANESWAR: Nandankanan Zoological Park’s animal safari has been shut down for the last four months. Thanks to the dilly-dallying by Nandankanan authorities, thousands of visitors have been deprived of the service which is a major attraction.

The zoo has four safaris - tiger, lion, bear and herbivore, but all of them remain closed from January 16 because two consecutive bidding processes did not materialise. Tender for the safari services was supposed to be executed in December last year but the processing was delayed. the firm to which the project was contracted was given extension twice - from December 16 to December 31 and January 1 to January 15. But, why the Nandankanan authorities did not invite the tender in advance and waited till January still remains a mystery.

When a fresh tender for safari was invited, one bidder was selected but he did not turn up for the agreement citing that norms mentioned by authorities were different in the advertisements and on agreement papers. The main issue of disagreement between successful bidder and zoo authorities was shifting the boarding station of the safari. The bidder expressed apprehension and cited that it would reduce footfall as the sightseers would have to walk longer distance from the main gate till the boarding point.

As he did not agree to the terms and conditions, zoo authorities announced a fresh tender. This time, the earlier bidder also participated but the annual payment quoted by him was comparatively less than then the first time. Another bidder who quoted a higher annual payment was awarded the contract but he too backed out when he noticed that other participants had gone for lower quotations.

Director, Nandankanan Zoo, Sisir Kumar Acharya told The Express that since the two bidding processes did not materialise, State Government was approached.

“We discussed with the State Government officials that the firms interested to run the safari operations have reservations over annual payment rate. The Government has agreed to reduce the annual price and we will issue a national tender soon,” Acharya said.

Sources said the bidders paid `10 lakh monthly to the zoo but the Government has agreed to reduce the amount to about `8 lakh. Top priority, he said, is the safety of visitors for which zoo decided to shift the safari boarding station from September 1. “The boarding station will not be connected with the zoo and pedestrians can walk freely,” Acharya added.

However, Deputy Director, Jayant Kumar Das has a different view. The successful bidder of second tender process has been given more time and if he fails to sign the agreement, a fresh tender would be invited. “If we issue a fresh tender, we will quote the reduced price as discussed with the Government officials,” he said.

The zoo officials pointed out that during summer vacations, tourists from West Bengal visit Nandankanan Zoo. Similarly, the footfall is also high during Raja and the four safaris are a major attractions with a reasonable ticket price of `50 per head.

Why safari boarding will be changed

On January 3, three tourists were seriously injured when a safari bus hit them on zoo premises. The incident had occurred outside Lion Safari when the bus was allegedly over-speeding. One of the injured later succumbed. It was the first such incident in Nandankanan Zoo. The boarding station will be shifted to Colony No 9 from September 1.