The park will be developed with the help of 11 foreign consultants engaged by a Singapore-based company with which the Punjab wildlife Department recently inked an agreement for the preparation of feasibility reports for the Lahore Wildlife and Lal Suhanra National Park in Cholistan.
Experts from the Barnard Harrison and Friends recently arrived in Lahore and met Punjab wildlife officials. A workshop will be held in March in Lahore in which all stakeholders will discuss the projects.
Sources said the consultants would charge $390,000 for the preparation of feasibility reports.
Hundreds of wildlife lovers visit the Lahore park every day, which has yet to be inaugurated formally.
One has to buy a photo-copied entry ticket as printed tickets are not available.
The main attraction in the park, lion and tiger safaris on 15 acres each, have been closed for the public for the last four months.
Park officials say the safaris were closed due to unavailability of dart guns, shot guns, vehicles for security guards, tractors, walky-talky sets, tranquiliser guns and close circuit television cameras.
Department sources said when the safaris were open for the public, visitors did not follow the rules and often got stuck their four wheelers in the safaris.
The park lacks manpower as for 242 acres facility, there is one watchman and three wildlife watchers. Of those three, one is always booked for night watch.
The play land area has also been closed for many months as the contractor has gone into litigation with the wildlife department over the issue of period of the contract.
Park in charge Shafqat said lion and tiger safaris would open in a month as equipment would be provided to the park soon. He said the park would be inaugurated formally after the construction work of the road leading to the park was completed.
He said the park lacked manpower but several posts were not being filled due to a ban on new recruitments. He said the management had advertised for new a contract for the play land area and canteen.
“At present, the park staff is running the canteen,” he added. He said photo-copied tickets were issued as there was no budget to get the tickets printed. He said they had issued copied tickets with the permission of the wildlife director general.
He said the park’s 80,000 sq feet bird aviary, which was the biggest one in Asia, had been completed and 300 birds had been released in it. He said 50 more birds would also be released in the aviary, which would be brought from the Lahore Zoo.
He said the wildlife department would also release 100 black and mute swans in the lake spread over fiver acreas. A machine boat was also being bought.
Punjab Wildlife Director General Imtiaz Tajwar told Dawn that foreign consultants would provide a concept plan and a feasibility report on Lahore Wildlife and Lal Suhanra parks.
He said these experts had developed wildlife parks and zoos in Singapore, Shanghai, Sydney, Mirada, India and London. He said Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi would review the plans and reports prepared by the experts.
He said the Lahore park would be inaugurated formally in a month-and-a-half.
The entry ticket is Rs5 for adults and Rs3 for children. After the formal inauguration, the proposed entry ticket fee will be Rs25 for adults and Rs10 for children. The visitors will be able to visit the safaris in their vehicles or in that of department’s.
Before the 1980s, the Lahore Wild Life Park had 65 acres, which was encroached upon. In 1981, then governor Ghulam Jilani arranged 177 acres for the park. In 1985, the Forest Department ran the affairs of the park, and in 1996 it was handed over to the Punjab Wildlife Department.
