Revised DP 2034 persists with ‘zoo’ tag for heritage Rani Bagh precinct
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MUMBAI:
There is no relief for the 153-year-old Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan
and zoo in Byculla even in the BMC's revised Development Plan (DP) 2034.
The DP revision team's designation survey, recently uploaded on the BMC
website, shows the 53-acre heritage botanical garden only as a 'zoo'.
Citizens working for preservation of the botanical garden said this
appears to be an attempt to concretize the green space by pushing for a
zoo and not mentioning it as a garden.
The 'zoo' tag comes despite the fact that the designation of the plot in the 1991 and 1967 DP was a 'garden'. In DP 2014-34, the proposed land use sheets of E ward, designated the VJB Udyan as a 'zoo'. It is a dual facility housing a large botanical garden occupying almost 63% of total area and a small zoo occupying 18%. The remaining portions are pathways and structures. The garden predates the zoo by nearly 30 years.
In February this year when the DP 2034 was published for the first time, VJB Udyan and the zoo were together designated as a 'zoo'. In April, members of the Save Rani Bagh Botanical Garden Foundation wrote to the civic body to retain the designation of the VJB Udyan and zoo as a 'garden', citing the previous DPs. They said that the garden classification was historically and scientifically accurate, providing a measure of protection to Mumbai's only heritage botanical garden.
Hutokshi Rustomfram, trustee of the foundation said, "We have scrutinized the designation survey 2034 published on the MCGM website. Despite the primary use of the VJB Udyan and zoo as a heritage botanical garden, in terms of historical precedence and actual space occupied by the garden, the designation of 'zoo' has been given to it again. We had brought it to the notice of the authorities when the DP 2034 was published that such a designation is untenable. We were even given a formal hearing. Yet, they have again classified the garden as a zoo."
Shubhada Nikarge, another trustee of the foundation, said the garden was been the cradle of the study of botany in Mumbai and many students visited it for field work. "This appears to be an attempt to push through BMC's ambitious plan to revamp the zoo, which has been rejected twice by the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee in 2011 and 2014," said Nikarge.
A senior civic official working on the revised DP 2034 admitted that the 'garden' designation was not mentioned in the survey list uploaded on the BMC website, but refused to elaborate.
The 'zoo' tag comes despite the fact that the designation of the plot in the 1991 and 1967 DP was a 'garden'. In DP 2014-34, the proposed land use sheets of E ward, designated the VJB Udyan as a 'zoo'. It is a dual facility housing a large botanical garden occupying almost 63% of total area and a small zoo occupying 18%. The remaining portions are pathways and structures. The garden predates the zoo by nearly 30 years.
In February this year when the DP 2034 was published for the first time, VJB Udyan and the zoo were together designated as a 'zoo'. In April, members of the Save Rani Bagh Botanical Garden Foundation wrote to the civic body to retain the designation of the VJB Udyan and zoo as a 'garden', citing the previous DPs. They said that the garden classification was historically and scientifically accurate, providing a measure of protection to Mumbai's only heritage botanical garden.
Hutokshi Rustomfram, trustee of the foundation said, "We have scrutinized the designation survey 2034 published on the MCGM website. Despite the primary use of the VJB Udyan and zoo as a heritage botanical garden, in terms of historical precedence and actual space occupied by the garden, the designation of 'zoo' has been given to it again. We had brought it to the notice of the authorities when the DP 2034 was published that such a designation is untenable. We were even given a formal hearing. Yet, they have again classified the garden as a zoo."
Shubhada Nikarge, another trustee of the foundation, said the garden was been the cradle of the study of botany in Mumbai and many students visited it for field work. "This appears to be an attempt to push through BMC's ambitious plan to revamp the zoo, which has been rejected twice by the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee in 2011 and 2014," said Nikarge.
A senior civic official working on the revised DP 2034 admitted that the 'garden' designation was not mentioned in the survey list uploaded on the BMC website, but refused to elaborate.
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