CCTV cameras to man Byculla zoo

The officials at Veer Jijamata Udyan or the Byculla zoo and BMC will now set up CCTV cameras, to keep a tight watch on miscreants and potentially disruptive elements. The move comes after a regular watch that has been monitored on the increasing number of crowds thronging to see the animals and dolphins.

A proposal will be tabled by the civic administration in the upcoming Standing Committee meeting scheduled on Wednesday.

The BMC has prepared an estimated cost of Rs 7 crore for the project which includes CCTV cameras installation and also digital video recorder machines.

A senior civic officer remarked that bids have been invited and around four bidders participated in the process. Out of four, one company has been short listed named Comtect Telesolution, as the company has given the lowest bid of Rs 5.64 crore.

The zoo recently increased the entry fee from Rs. five to minimum Rs 25 for individual and Rs. 100 for a family, after Humboldt penguins brought to the zoo, attracting more crowd.

Sanjay Tripathi, Director of Byculla Zoo stated that the zoo receives a crowd of around 14,000 to 15,000 visitors every day. Also, earlier as the entry fee was only Rs 5 the number of unwanted visitors was more also the revenue earned was a mere Rs 60 to 70 thousand. But after fee hike the zoo earnings have gone up.