New Delhi:
Visitors to Delhi zoo will have to shell out more from next month with authorities deciding to double the entry fee to meet the increasing expenditure for maintenance of the zoo.
"The basic entry fee will be Rs 40 instead of existing Rs 20 for a general entry ticket, while children and senior citizens will be charged Rs 20 against existing Rs 10," said Riyaz Ahmad Khan, Curator of the Delhi Zoo.
The new fee will come into effect from April 1.
"The fee is being increased as maintenance cost of the zoo has gone up," Mr Khan said.
The fee was last revised in 2010.
Still photography, which was free inside the zoo earlier, will now attract a fee of Rs 50, while documentary film-making and video shooting will cost a hefty Rs 20,000 from now on against the existing Rs 1,000.
The entry charges for foreign nationals have also been increased from existing Rs 100 to Rs 200, though the charges for the children of foreign nationals will remain at Rs 100, Khan said.
The zoo authorities have also decided to increase the fee for 'Tatkal entry system' from existing Rs 100 to Rs 200. The Tatkal entry system was introduced few months ago for visitors who do not want to stand in queues to buy entry tickets.
"The tatkal entry system will be available at double the charge," Mr Khan said.
He said the zoo was in the process of resuming battery- driven car service and they will be made available from the first week of April.
The charges per person for the service will be higher than what it was earlier.
"We may be charging around Rs 50 per person for cart ride against Rs 35 we used to charge earlier," he said. The service was discontinued over a month ago after the contract with the earlier operator expired.