Keypoints:
- The bird aviary within the zoo is expected to remain shut.
- After its penguin enclosure was opened to the public, Byculla Zoo had become one of the most popular tourist spots in the city.
- Following the Covid-induced lockdown, however, the zoo was closed on March 15 last year.
- On a regular weekday, Byculla Zoo sees up to 5,000-6,000 visitors and on weekends, crowds can climb up to 15,000 people.
Mumbai’s Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan, also known as Byculla zoo was shut down for over 11 months due to the pandemic but it is likely to open its doors for general public from Monday under the state governments mission begin again, zoo officials said.
According to the zoo authorities, the proposal for the zoo to reopen from February 15 has been submitted to the municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal for approval. Once it gets approved, the zoo will reopen.
However, considering the risk of bird flu, the enclosure of over 200 exotic birds will be kept shut and other enclosures like those of tigers, penguins and leopards will remain open for the general public as usual.
A Byculla zoo official said, “The proposal is expected to be discussed and a decision is likely by Friday. The zoo will be reopened while following Covid-19 norms with proper social distancing and sanitiser at several spots.”
The zoo official added, “We will ensure that we regulate the crowd inside the zoo, and if there are too many people, entry into the zoo will be halted for a while.”
The operational timings of the zoo will remain the same—between 9.30am and 6pm. The Byculla zoo received around 6,000 visitors during each weekday and over 8,000 visitors daily during weekends before the lockdown in March 2020.
For now, the decision to reopen the zoo will be taken only after Chahal takes a final call on the proposal from zoo authorities. The BMC had shut Byculla zoo on March 15, 2020 around two days after deciding to shut restaurants, bars and gyms on March 13, 2020.
This is the first time since the Mission Begin Again that the zoo administration has submitted a proposal to BMC to reopen. The zoo has lost a significant amount of revenue during the lockdown. Between March and June 2019, the Byculla Zoo collected over Rs. 1.87 crore of revenue by selling entry tickets. Before the lockdown, during the peak season, the revenue collection of Byculla zoo roughly touched 4.5 to 5 lakh per month. However, revenue collected in 2020 up to March 15 is Rs.1.92 lakh.
