09 May,2009 11:36 AM IST | | Agencies
The Brihanumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is to go head with the Rs 430-crore zoo modernisation plan which is expected to be completed in the next two-three years. The country's richest municipal corporation has chalked out the plan in collaboration with a foreign agency to improve the condition of the civic-run zoo and also its caged inhabitants at Byculla, civic sources said.
The BMC has put in place a new master plan after the Bombay High Court asked it to revise its earlier project. The civic body got it prepared by a Thailand-based agency, M/s HKS Designer and Consultant International Company. As part of the plan, animals will be acquired from South East Asia, Africa and Australia among other regions through different agencies, they said.
There will be 273 mammals of 43 species, 183 birds of 24 species and 96 reptiles of 26 species as per the animal collection plan. Meanwhile, the BMC has issued a clarification over the alleged ill-treatment of animals at the zoo (Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan). It has said there are two veterinary doctors to look after the health of the animals.
Help is taken from the Bombay Veterinary College and two advisors from Bombay Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BSPCA) have been appointed to render service and guidance on health matters, it said.
