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BMC’s signature drive seeks support for zoo revamp plan .......Clara Lewis I TNN Mumbai: Stung by the refusal of environmental organisations to approve of its plan to remodel the Byculla zoo-cumbotanical garden, the BMC is now conducting a signature drive to endorse its plan. Visitors to the zoo are being shown the plan and asked to sign in support if they agree with it.
The plan envisages the introduction of a wider variety of animals from Africa, Australia and south-east Asia, open enclosures and a single pathway. However, environmentalists say the remodelling will destroy the botanical garden. They also argue that as the state has announced its plans to set up zoos at Aarey and Navi Mumbai, it is pointless to cramp so many animals in the 53-acre Byculla zoo-cum-botanical garden, which also has 3,170 trees and 226 species.
The BMC has been hosting an exhibition of its master plan at the Veer Jijamata Bhonsale Udyan for the past three
weeks. Till Saturday, it had collected 12,000 signatures from visitors. The BMC will invite tenders to implement the Rs 434-crore plan within a month. Naseem Khan, a resident of Bandra who had come along with her family, went around the exhibition and even signed in support. Justifying her decision, she said, “When I was young, we used to come to the zoo on school picnics. At that time, there used to be a lot of animals. In between, there was none and now, there are some. If they say they are doing something good, we must support it.’’ Ramesh Kamble, who was at the zoo with his wife and child on vacation from Akola, feels Mumbai must have a modern zoo, “like the one in Singapore’’. “So, I support it.”
Rubina Sheikh, a regular, was in favour of the plan but also wanted to make a suggestion. Told a firm ‘no’, she left disappointed.
That’s because the BMC is not looking for objections and suggestions. It is only drumming up support as it fights a group of NGOs opposing the modernisation plan.
R A Rajeev, additional municipal commissioner in charge of the project, said the Central Zoo Authority had approved of the new plan after a year of deliberation. The group leaders who represent their councillors in the municipal corporation and the standing committee have okayed the plan as well. “Yet, there are people who have been conducting a signature campaign and claim to have the support of 1,500-2,000 people opposing the plan. They are a vocal minority who think they can stall the project. If they can carry out a signature campaign, so can we. This will silence those against the plan,’’ he added.
Botanist V K Ogale said if the BMC had put up the existing layout of the zoo and superimposed the new plan on it, it could have helped understand better how the existing zoo would be affected. “It would have cleared several doubts, especially if trees were to be touched. At the moment, we have only been assured that this will not happen. There are
a number of rare trees, which, if cut, may be difficult to replace,’’ he said. Hutokshi Rustomfram, member of the Save Rani Baug Committee, points out that the Udyan was set up in 1861 by the horti-agricultural society. A few years later, animals were brought there. “The flora and fauna have co-existed for 130 years. Under the new plan, huge swathes of the botanical garden will be taken inside the animal enclosures, thereby preventing the public from enjoying the trees,’’ she said.
“Today, there are around 30 gardens and numerous pathways, which will be reduced to around 2-3 gardens and a single pathway leading to the viewing galleries. It’s a heritage site with an oldworld charm. The BMC will destroy the character of the place. It was a major victory for us that the plans were changed so that the single pathway went around the trees. One of the CZA conditions is that not a single shrub, creeper or tree must be transplanted, which is highly unlikely,’’ she added.
NGOS OPPOSING THE PLAN: Save Rani Baug Committee Bombay Natural History Society World Wildlife Fund Sanctuary Asia Bombay Environmental Action Group Citispace Friends of the Trees Conservation Action Trust SEEKING SUPPORT: The BMC says it has got 12,000 signatures so far
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