Bhubaneswar: Boating facilities will now be available to visitors at the botanical garden, a part of the Nandankanan sanctuary.

The authorities are also planning to introduce water sports in the garden, which witnesses significant footfall of picnickers in winter.

Deputy director of the zoo Jayant Dash said that in the first phase, four to eight boats would be made available in the garden for the visitors.

"The private party for boat service will be finalised through tender and we will float a tender shortly," said Dash adding that around 2.2 lakh visitors had visited the garden last year.

The botanical garden was established in 1963 over 173 acres. The garden has numerous tourist attractions, including butterfly park, a rosarium with 1,000 rose plants of 55 varieties, a medicinal garden with 200 species of medicinal plants and an orchid house that has more than 1,000 orchid plants of 57 varieties. Besides there is also a section called Mughal Garden that showcases both seasonal and perennial flowering plants.

"Our aim is to create more tourist attractions so that the visitors will visit the garden throughout the year. The existing road connecting the zoo to the garden will be shut down for visitors and an alternative road will be constructed from the Nadankanan Square roundabout to the park for better communication," said a zoo official.

As many as 23 boats are now available for rides in the Kanjia lake.

While the private party of the service charges Rs 50 for smal boats with seating capacity 4, the charge for an eight-seat boat is Rs 70. The charge for family boat is Rs 120.

Officials said the zoo annually generated a revenue of around Rs 15 lakh from the private party managing the boating service.