Chennai: Arignar Anna Zoological Park (AAZP) that houses close to 2,600 wild animals is hit by water shortage this summer as the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board has stopped its daily supply of two lakh litres of water since last week. Though the park authorities are managing the animals with the supply drawn from in-house borewells and the adjacent Otteri lake, animal keepers are now worried over the depleting groundwater resources.
According to AAZP insiders, the park considered to be one of the Asia’s largest zoos requires four lakh litres of water per day. Of this, three lakh is required for the animals during summer and another one lakh will be used for washing, cleaning and to provide drinking water needs for the public thronging zoo. There is also canteen functioning at the park and with the increase in footfalls due to summer vacation the demand for potable water is high. Water management is now a tough task, sources said. For the last two days, there is no supply from TWAD board and the officials are not clear about when the water supply will resume, sources added.
“We were told that there is no water in Veeranam and we are worried about the maintenance of the park,” said AAZP official wishing not to be quoted. Large animals like elephants, gaur and tigers need water. We are managing our existing resources, but the situation might turn tough if TWAD fails to restore the supply, the official added.
When contacted an assistant executive engineer with the TWAD Board on the issue, he confirmed that the water supply to the zoo has been suspended due to breach in the pipeline near Chengalpet. “We are attending to it and the water supply will resume in a couple of days,” the engineer said. However, the engineer was non-committal on the deadline.
