Number of morning walkersdown as temperature rises

PATNA: The scorching summer and heatwave conditions in Patna not only bother the office-goers, but also affect the people going for a morning walk.
Sanjay Gandhi Biological Garden, popularly known as Patna zoo, is one of the the most favourite places of Patnaites for morning walk. But the exceeding temperature has reduced the number of fitness enthusiasts to almost half in the recent days.
Nikhil Kumar, a resident of Ashiana Nagar, who, along with his neighbours, used to visit Patna zoo, said despite having an annual pass, many people have stopped going there for morning walk.“Earlier, I used to go there with three of my friends. But now two of my friends have stopped going there due to the heat. The number of morning walkers has also decreased. I am also thinking to stop morning walk till the monsoon arrives,” he added.
Patna zoo director Satyajeet Kumar accepted that the flow of morning walkers has reduced to half. Earlier, around 4,000 visitors came for morning walk, but now the number has dropped to 2,000. The maximum number of morning walkers can be seen between 5 to 6.30 am. Most of the people who come here for a walk have quarterly, half-yearly or annual passes. Those who don’t have passes can take regular tickets from the counter. The annual pass costs Rs2620 while it is Rs1700 half-yearly and Rs1000 quarterly. Casual visitors have to pay Rs30 for adults and Rs10 for children, he said.
“I, along with my husband and daughter, used to visit Energy Park. But we changed the place due to scorching heat and started visiting Patna zoo as it has more green area. But now it has become very difficult there also as our visiting time is around 7am and it’s almost impossible to tolerate the boiling heat even so early in the morning. Now we are thinking to postpone morning walk for few days, at least till the temperature settles down,” said Ragini Kumari of Patel Nagar.
The zoo director said the Central Zoo Authority has also directed not to issue more cards in order to leave the animals in peace. The people are allowed to move in the botanical areas only so that the animals could not be disturbed. The display time of the animals is from 8am. But there are walking tracks in some areas like on lake side where there are cages of animals and seeing people so early can disturb them and affect their health.