Visitors taken for a ‘ride’ on safari
The Zoo Authority of Karnataka has served a notice on the state-owned Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) for alleged irregularities in operating safari trips inside the Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP). The ZAK was responding to several complaints from visitors that safari operators drove fast, did not stop vehicles to allow visitors to sight animals and issued extra tickets even if the numbers of visitors exceeded the vehicle and safari timings.
KSTDC runs 20 safari vehicles for Bannerghatta Zoo which receives close to 20,000 visitors during weekends. Each safari round takes about 45 minutes where the visitors are drove close to tigers, lions, sloth bears and other animals. A park official told Deccan Chronicle that KSTDC has been asked to detail every safari trip so that there is no irregularity. “It was found that tourism agents, who bring tourists to the safari on a regular basis, hoodwinked the park officials in connivance with ticket collectors. They would purchase one ticket and take about 50 visitors in a safari vehicle. The money collected by other 49 passengers would be shared by the agents and the drivers,” said a park official.
In the last three months, there have been four complaints against the KSTDC drivers, including over speeding. A safari vehicle injured a tiger and two sloth bears in a gap of one month. So far the speeding driver has not been traced. “We have introduced trip sheets and appointed men from the Park at the ticket counter, so that the number of tickets issued and number of visitors is tallied. KSTDC workers had refused to issue electronic tickets, which cannot be reused. We are bringing these changes to enhance the quality of safari,” the official said.
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