LAHORE
Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) has decided to open all public parks with routine regular timings from Tuesday (today).
All the public parks were closed after the terror incident in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park and PHA was directed to review security measures of the parks. Parks and Horticulture Authority Director General Mian Shakeel while talking to The News said that security measures at all public parks had been updated.
He said that PHA had increased the number of guards at all entrances of public parks while the process of purchasing metal detectors and walk-through gates had also been started. He said razor wire was also being installed at Racecourse Park.
Answering a question about timing of parks, he said the parks would remain open to general public from morning till night and there would be no restriction on entrance of children in parks after 6pm. He said that CCTV cameras would also be installed at all entrances of major public parks. Talking about opening of Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, he said that the park would be opened after the clearance of security agencies and police.
On the other hand, the Punjab government has released funds for the ongoing schemes of Lahore Zoo Safari Park, including construction of its boundary wall and updating security measures.
This was revealed by Provincial Minister for Zakat and Ushr Malik Nadeem Kamran and MNA Afzal Khokhar while presiding over a meeting of the committee constituted by the chief minister to probe and settle the affairs of Lahore Zoo and Zoo Safari Park here Monday. They directed to accelerate the pace of work and present a detailed inquiry report about the death of birds due to ND virus.
Apart from the members of the committee, DG Wildlife and Parks Punjab Khalid Ayaz Khan, Director Lahore Zoo Shafqat Ali, Deputy Director Zoo Safari Park Syed Zafar-ul-Hassan and other officers concerned were also present in the meeting.
Provincial Minister Nadeem Kamran directed the Zoo Safari Park Deputy Director to arrange special meetings with high ranking officers of Communication & Works Department and contractors concerned in connection with early completion of ongoing schemes, especially food courts and children play land which is going to be constructed on build operate and transfer basis. He said that time frame regarding completion of projects should also be obtained from the contractors and presented in the next meeting of the committee.
Malik Nadeem Kamran said that those seven projects on which more than 80 percent work had been done should be completed up to 20th of April while other 10 projects should
be completed up to June 2016, at any cost.
Wildlife & Parks PunjabDirector General Khalid Ayaz Khan told the meeting that under Animal Exchange Programme, the department had contacted international fora and in this regard Maysur Zoo, India and Singapore Zoo had been contacted so far. He said that department was also in contact with private breeding farm owners to exchange such species of the animals which were not in our zoos. He said that the department would keep in mind the international prices of the animals which were available with him and in case of high price they would increase the number of animals.