Patna, April 19: Get ready to pay for your morning walks at Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park, popularly known as Patna zoo.

In adherence to the directives of the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) to keep the zoo only for animals, the state government has decided to systematically phase out morning strollers.

“We have decided to introduce the pass system to reduce the number of walkers,” Sushil Kumar Modi, the deputy chief minister, told reporters today.

CZA, in repeated communiqué to the state government, has pointed out that no other zoo in the country allows morning walkers. It has suggested that Patna zoo be kept free of morning walkers. The state forest department has also proposed to rid the 153-acre green of early morning visitors. Modi, also the minister of forest and environment, said: “We have decided to issue quarterly, monthly and yearly passes to the morning visitors on the payment of a nominal amount. The move will automatically keep the non-serious walkers at bay, reducing the huge surge of people.”

To press his point about non-serious walkers crowding the zoo, Modi cited the instance of how a visitor passed a lewd comment on a woman and eventually landed in jail recently. “Issuing passes too is not going to be a lasting affair. Gradually, the pass system too will be discarded to make the zoo free of morning walkers,” Modi said.

He, however, clarified that there would be no discrimination in issuing the passes.

“The walkers will be given three months’ time to obtain their passes on payment. Obviously, only the serious walkers will turn up,” reasoned Modi. However, it might not be that easy for the government to implement the CZA guidelines on Patna zoo. Majority of the members of the state’s political and administrative circles have been walking in the sylvan surroundings of the zoo since it came into being in the early-1970s. It attracts at least 3,000 walkers every morning. The time to enter free of cost in the zoo is from 5am to 7.45am.

Some visitors agreed with the government’s proposal.

“Non-serious walkers should be discouraged. They create trouble for people like us,” said former director-general of police Asish Ranjan Sinha, who has been strolling in the zoo since 1988.