From installing desert coolers to making tigers bathe four times a day, authorities in Siddharth Zoo in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar city are helping big cats stay cool with various measures.
The zoo has 12 tigers, including five males and seven females.
As the day temperatures are crossing 40 degrees Celsius, the municipal administration has initiated several steps to provide relief to big cats.
"Tigers are given a bath four times a day in their cages. Besides, five large desert coolers are installed which are operated round-the-clock," an official said.
Water tanks in the cages of tigers are filled with water so that the big cats can jump into them.
"Steps are also initiated for other animals in the zoo. Extensive sheds are built and water is sprayed in their cages to help them cool off," the official added.
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar recorded a maximum temperature of 41 degrees Celsius on May 28.
Ellora Caves, other monuments dependent on tanker supply
Meanwhile, the world famous Ellora Caves and various other monuments in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar have been dependent on tankers for supply of water amid its shortage due to less rains last monsoon, officials said.
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar received 527.10 mm rainfall in the last monsoon season, as compared to the average rainfall of 637.50 mm for the period, a revenue official here said.
The rainfall was less than expected. As a result, water sources have gone dry in the premises of some monuments like the Ellora Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage site, Bibi Ka Maqbara and the Aurangabad Caves, which attract a large number of tourists, an ASI official said on Tuesday.
The monuments, coming under the jurisdiction of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and are now dependent on tankers for water supply, he said.
"The Ellora Caves complex requires two water tankers every day for drinking, gardening and washing purposes," the official said.
"We are procuring at least two tankers of 5,000 litres each for the Bibi Ka Maqbara and one tanker every alternate day at the Aurangabad Caves where the water sources dried up last November," he said.
Sometimes, a third water tanker is also required at the Bibi Ka Maqbara if the tourist footfall increases, the official said.
"A separate tank has been connected to a purification system there. We fill up the tank and use its water for visitors," he said.
