Rawalpindi: (Parliament Times) Due to lack of attention of the authorities’ concerned, the wildlife and Safari Park Rawalpindi located in Lohi Bher area has now been shrunk to 450 acres of land during the last 25 years.
The wildlife and Safari Park Rawalpindi was set up on 1050 acres of land in 1992, allotted by the forest department Punjab in Lohi Bher area, but after passage of twenty five years it has now been limited to 450 acres in 2017.
Sources informed the said park has failed to generate any revenue since the last 10 years, as the visitors were reluctant to visit the park due to lack of recreational facilities. Moreover, dilapidated roads, lack of infrastructure and lack of other facilities were keeping the visitors away.
They further said that natural beauty of the park was diminishing day by day, adding animals and birds, which were a main source of attraction are now rarely there. Due to worsen situation of the roads, it was difficult for visitors to ply car or other transport, which may lead to damage, they added.
Meanwhile, Dr Wasif Majeed associated with the park has said that the needs of animals and pathetic condition of cages and park could not be improved and refurbished due to shortage of funds and facilities. He noted that people will not be attracted towards the park again unless the infrastructure of park is revamped.
Assistant Director Wild Life Park Irfan Farooqi claimed that most of land of park has been grabbed by the land grabbers, due to which park has been shrunk to half its size.