Bhubaneswar, April 16: By December, you may be lucky enough to take a toy ride once again at the zoo.
The laying of track for the toy train service at Nandankanan zoo will begin shortly with the service likely to be resume from December. RITES Ltd, a Government of India enterprise under the aegis of Indian Railways, will overhaul the service, which has been lying defunct since 2014.
Zoo officials said the narrow gauge track used for the toy train service would be replaced with a broad gauge line. Similarly, the engine and five bogeys used in the service will be renovated.
"The private party has given a budget estimate of Rs 3 crore for overhaul of the toy train service and Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) has agreed to provide the money. The MCL has already released Rs 1.22 crore for the purpose," said a zoo official.
The toy train, which was started in 1985 on a 1.6km track, had a capacity to accommodate 60 visitors in its 20-minute ride. The toy train, once a major tourist attraction at the zoo, ferried around 1.5 lakh tourists every year. The service providers charged Rs 10 per person for a single ride.
"On our part we will renovate the platform and the ticket counter. The modalities of maintenance and management of the toy train service and the price of tickets will be decided by the state government. We are hopeful of resuming the service by December this year," said deputy director of the zoo Jayant Dash.
The zoo managed the toy train service till 2008 after which it roped in a private company, which managed the service till 2012-13. In 2013-14 the zoo roped in another private party for two years.
But the private party after one year of being roped in expressed its disinterest in running the service and the state government could only mange to recover Rs 1.25 lakh, the security deposit given by the private party. The service was finally closed in August 2014.
Sources in the zoo said RITES Ltd had also shown its interest to manage the service after a complete overhaul. "Our priority is to complete the renovation at the earliest possible. Once the work is completed we will take a call on management of the service," said a zoo official.
Man killed
A 60-year-old man was allegedly beaten to death by his wife and son at Kokipada village within Govindpur police limits in Cuttack district. Police said the deceased, identified as Fakir Mohanty, was found dead at his home on Sunday morning. The cops have detained his wife Kumuduni and are trying to nab their son.
Thunderstorm
The weatherman on Sunday predicted the cyclonic storm, Maarutha, that is centred over east-central Bay of Bengal about 735km east-southeast of Paradip at present, to trigger rain and thundershower at a few places across the state. Officials in the regional meteorological centre in Bhubaneswar predicted rain or thundershowers likely to occur at one or two places in north Odisha during the next 24 hours. The Met department also forecast gusty surface wind from the south with speeds reaching up to 35-40kmph that was likely to prevail along and off the Odisha coast.
Hailstorm and heavy rain lashed the state capital later in the evening, bringing relief to citizens from the sweltering heat. The storm, which lasted for around 45 minutes, resulted in electricity lines being snapped in several areas. On April 11, the state capital temperature had crossed 40°C for the first time this summer.