Adding 10 acres to the open green space of Mumbai city, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is planning to expand the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Vanaspati Udyan and Zoo, popularly known as the Byculla zoo.
The zoo is spread across about 53 acres, and the BMC will add another 10 acres—seven acres of the newly acquired pocket of the Mafatlal Compound and the rest in the Poddar area.
exotic zone
The expansion plan proposes to create a special “exotic zone” to serve as a safe haven for exotic animals such as giraffes, zebras, jaguars, white lions, wallabies and chimpanzees.
The expansion is part of phase III of the zoo revamp project initiated in 2015. As part of the first phase, Humboldt penguins were added to the zoo in 2017. Phase II, launched in 2017, saw the construction of 17 animal exhibits as well as an aviary, which today houses over 100 bird species. Ninety per cent of the work on phase II is complete, according to a senior zoo official.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday took on Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in the latter’s home turf for the “betrayal” he inflicted on the Sena, as well as Maharashtra, and asserted that the whole country knows they “sold out” , and for how much.
In his first visit to Thane since the Shiv Sena split last year, the former Maharashtra CM also paid tribute at the memorial of Anand Dighe, the late popular Sena leader who was considered Shinde’s mentor.
Thane was a stronghold of the united Sena for years, but with most supporters leaving with Shinde, this is seen as a move by Thackeray to rebuild the party in the district.
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