Civic body will restore clock tower, arch, statues and century-old railing with a new 3 year upkeep plan; learning from earlier conservation work at the zoo and across the city, the BMC has included a three-year maintenance contract in the new project.
The zoo’s railing rests on century-old stone blocks embedded in the ground. File pic/Ashish Raje
Five years after its flagship project to restore the heritage structures inside the 162-year-old Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Botanical Garden and Zoo, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is now undertaking another restoration initiative.
This phase will focus on the Byculla zoo’s clock tower, conservatory, Triumphal Arch, several statues and the cast iron railing that forms the compound wall. Learning from earlier conservation work at the zoo and across the city, the BMC has included a three-year maintenance contract in the new project.
To standardise the look of heritage structures and precincts across Mumbai, the zoo’s cast iron railing will be modelled on the one at the 150-year-old Horniman Circle Garden. Earlier this year, as part of Horniman Circle’s restoration, the BMC rebuilt its historic railing. The zoo’s railing rests on century-old stone blocks embedded in the ground.
A senior official told mid-day, “After the heritage structures were restored in 2019, they were not maintained with the same enthusiasm, and maintenance was not part of the conservation contract. This time it has been included.”
Established in 1862 and formerly known as Victoria Gardens, the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan and Zoo houses several heritage structures, including an old bungalow. Its most prominent landmark is the 67-foot David Sassoon clock tower, visible from Babasaheb Ambedkar Road near the main entrance.
The zoo also features statues such as the Lady of Charity in Lady Frere’s temple, the sculpture of a mother with two children at the central roundabout and the Kala Ghoda statue. The zoo is set to expand over the next two years with a Rs 62-crore tunnel aquarium and an enlarged penguin enclosure.
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