Shillong, Sept 2: With more than a year passed since supposed completion of the Meghalaya Biological Park at Umtrew in Ri-Bhoi district, the Park is still far from ready to be open to public.
The last time any timeframe for completion of the Park announced was by Chief minister Conrad K Sangma, who reviewed the progress in May 2023 and announced it would be ready for public visit by Independence Day last year.
A lot of work is still pending, and it is not yet certain as to when the Rs 35-crore Park covering 72 hectare would be ready for opening.
Physical work on the animal enclosures has made good progress while other infrastructure work is far from complete due to which most animals could not be brought to the Park despite existence of the enclosures.
Ticketing centre, parking lot, roads within the park, and souvenir shops are among still incomplete crucial work.
“The work may be completed in another six months,” said a Park official adding that it would boost the local economy of the pristine area rich with flora and fauna.
Animals from rescue centres such as Phan Nonglait Park (Lady Hydari Park) will be relocated to the Park, which will feature various species of deer, jackal, fox, bear, cat, and primates including hoolock gibbon and macaques.
Meghalaya has a Protected Area Network (PAN) of 1,134 sq km covering 5.06 per cent of the hilly state’s total geographical area.
There are two national parks – Balpakram and Nokrek Ridge – four wildlife sanctuaries – Nongkhyllem, Siju, Narpuh and Baghmara – and one biosphere reserve – Nokrek.
