The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Overcrowding, poor waste disposal system worry experts

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 23, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Overcrowding, poor waste disposal system worry experts

Staff Reporter

City zoo to be reopened to the public tomorrow

– Photo: S. Mahinsha

Getting ready: Cleaning work in progress at the city zoo on Sunday.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After remaining closed for 16 days due to an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) the city zoo will be reopened to the public on the morning of July 24.

Visitors will not be allowed to go near the enclosure that once housed the Mithuns, the enclosure for the blackbuck and that of the African cape buffalo. Before entering the zoo compound, visitors will have to step into a ‘foot dip’ containing a disinfectant solution. This is to ensure that the FMD virus does not re-enter the zoo through footwear.

These decisions were taken by the zoo authorities after members of the technical committee set up to help the zoo manage the crisis toured the zoo campus on Sunday morning, inspected ongoing sanitation work and later recommended that the zoo be reopened.

The last deaths

The last FMD-induced deaths at the zoo were on July 16; two blackbucks succumbed to the virus just three days after a team from the Southern Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratories, Bangalore, said at a press conference that FMD was under control at the zoo. Moreover, many shortcomings in the zoo’s operations pointed out by the two-member team in its recent report remain unaddressed as the zoo prepares to throw open its doors to the public.

The report points out that the number of animals housed in the zoo is not proportionate to the zoo’s size. So, pruning of excess animals is necessary. The same vehicle is being used for transporting meat and grass “without proper sanitary measures.” While the sources of meat procured from contractors were “untraceable,” the grass used as fodder was sourced from ‘sewerage beds” and was fed to the animals without any treatment, the report notes.

There should be separate vehicles for transporting meat and fodder inside the zoo; these should be cleaned and disinfected daily, the report says and recommends that the entry of staff/public vehicles inside the zoo should not be allowed.

There is no designated area for waste disposal and there is no separate area for the disposal of carcasses as mandated by the Central Zoo Authority. Water from the zoo’s garden area and even that flowing down from the main road was found passing through moats / cages and that the Mithun had access to this water; this is not a desirable situation. There is no effluent treatment system at the zoo. The report notes the zoo should have separate quarantine facilities for healthy and sick animals. Now it has none.

The report also calls for a combing drive to identify FMD in susceptible livestock in a 10 km radius from the zoo. Such livestock should be compulsorily vaccinated against FMD twice a year, the report recommends.

Corporation scheme

The Thiruvananthapuram Corporation is considering a move to offer assistance to the city zoo for solid waste management. This follows a visit to the zoo premises by the health standing committee of the corporation earlier this week to assess the conditions following the death of animals in the wake of the outbreak of foot and mouth disease.

Committee chairman G.R. Anil said the civic body was likely to seek the help of the expert panel set up to streamline the garbage collection and disposal mechanism in the city. The team found mounds of raw waste accumulating in front of the open-air enclosures in the zoo. The inspection also revealed overcrowding in many of the enclosures and cages. “Apparently, the zoo authorities are grappling with space constraints,” said a team member.

The lake inside the premises is also likely to be polluted, he observed. The Health Committee is likely to recommend the installation of a biogas plant to treat the organic waste. “By linking it to a power plant, the unit can generate enough electricity to power the lamps inside the premises,” said Mr. Anil.

Mr. Anil said the quantum of garbage and the possibility of contamination by organisms responsible for zoonotic diseases would make it difficult for the Corporation to handle the zoo waste.

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