CM Murad visits Karachi zoo, vows to make it beautiful place

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that there were lot of complaints against Karachi Zoological garden, therefore, he decided to visit it personally to witness its plight.

This he said while talking to media during his visit to Karachi Zoological garden. He was accompanied by Local Government Minister Jam Khan Shoro and was received by Mayor Karachi Waseem Akhtar, senior officers of provincial government and KMC when he reached there.

Murad Ali Shah said he was visiting Karachi Zoo after 42 years. Recalling his childhood, the chief minister said that he along with his sisters and brother used to visit Karachi zoo with his father. Those memories have flashed back today.

“This is a very good place for children to refresh themselves by interacting with animals and birds,” he said and added this is one of the socialization move.

He said that there were lot of complaints he had received against zoo which include lack of facilities for visitors, encroachments around the garden, poor conditions in which animals have been kept and such others.

“I am going around to personally witness overall the conditions at zoo and its cages,” he said. He vowed to make Karachi zoo one of the best place to visit.

He admitted that the conditions were not so good but “I have included the up-gradation of the zoo in the scheme launched under Karachi package,” he said and added that Architect Samar Ali Khan, MPA, and some other friends are working with the government to make Karachi Zoo a most beautiful place for children to visit and enjoy its atmosphere.

Syed Murad Ali Shah said that he was against the tradition of keeping animals in the cages. “I have a plan under which the animals and birds would be kept in a free atmosphere so that they could enjoy their life apart from giving knowledge of their attitudes, behavior to the visitors.

Giving an example of elephant he said they mostly live in grasslands. They can also be found in the desert of the Savannah, forest areas where there are swamps. “The idea is to create such an atmosphere in the zoo where they can be kept freely,” he said.

The chief minister said that Karachi zoo spreads over an area of 40 acres. It can be turned into a most beautiful zoological gardens of the country for which his government in consultation with KMC and leading architects is working.

Additional Chief Secretary (Dev) Mohammad Waseem briefing the chief minister said that a Rs299.819 million scheme is being launched to upgrade and reconstruct the zoo for which Finance department has released Rs150 million.