Durga Puja brought no cheer to Alipore Zoo

Kolkata: The pandemic has left a lasting damage to the tourism industry and the foorfall at Alipore Zoological Gardens that witnessed a significant plunge, compared to the same period in 2019, after it re-opened on October 2, is a proof to the fact.

"The footfall in October is over 16,000. Last year, during October the footfall was 1,80, 000," said Asis Kumar Samanata, director of Alipore Zoological Gardens.

At present, the footfall of visitors is between 400 and 600 on a daily basis. During pre-pandemic period, the footfall of visitors used to be between 3,000 and 4,000 on a normal day.

During festive seasons such as Durga Puja or Christmas (yuletide) the per day footfall used to be between 6,000 and 10,000 daily.

The Alipore Zoological Gardens, closed on March 17 as a preventive measure to combat the spread of Coronavirus, reopened on October 2 maintaining all COVID-19 protocols.

At present, visitors should follow the SOPs of the state Forest department. There will be no counter ticket issued by the zoo authority. Visitors have to buy online tickets from the official website (www.kolkatazoo.in/new) to enter the zoo premises. They had to pass through a sanitisation channel at the entrance area before approaching the ticket counter.

More than two people cannot sit on the benches at a time. The space between the three- seated benches is marked with a red cross.

Security guards have been deployed to keep eyes on visitors violating the COVID-19 protocol. Special marking has been done at enclosures of animals (Chimpanzee, Tiger, Elephant and giraffe) where there are more gatherings of people.

"Every year, during Durga Puja, I come to the zoo with my family. We know it is risky to go out at a time when community transmission is on the rise. Today, we have come here (zoo) because my children were crying," said Pratab Singh, resident of Behala.