GREEN CONCERN
Give more details on zoo,BMC told….Sukhada Tatke
Give more details on zoo,BMC told….Sukhada Tatke
Mumbai: Eight months after the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC) wrote to the BMC about its reservations and suggestions about the 53-acre Veermata Jijabai Udyans revamp,the civic body submitted its reply to the committee last month.
Last week,however,the committee wrote back to the BMC officials stating that the information was incomplete and certain crucial details had not been provided.
MHCC chairman Dinesh Afzulpurkar said that while most of the information sought had been submitted by the BMC,it had not given the autoCAD maps,which would specify how much area would remain green after the revamp,and how much would be paved.We have also asked them to tell us how exactly the BMC envisages to protect the rare species of trees and increase access to them.
The MHCC had,in May,communicated to the BMC its disapproval regarding certain calculations.The committee had argued that there was an issue with the revised percentage area in pathways and gardens open to the public.It had observed that the calculations have been erroneous.For example,it had pointed out that the pathways are to be reduced from 20.24% to 5.5% to increase the green area,but service paths and roads are included in the calculation.The panel was also unhappy with the calculations given for decreasing the space closed to the public (30% to 3.3%) and increasing space open to the public.
Additional municipal commissioner Aseem Gupta said that a biodiversity survey of the zoo was carried out,and that took time.After we got communication from them to submit the maps,we did the needful.If there are more things left to be submitted,we will do so, he said.