Mumbai: The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the State government for land for the world standard zoo has been signed and exchanged in the presence of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Arvind Sawant, Sudhir Mungatiwar, Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar and BMC chief Praveen Pardeshi. The forest department will hand over the said land to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Out of the 190 acres of government land at Aarey Colony in Goregaon, approximately 100 acres of land will be brought in use for the development of the international standard zoo.
The land is being given on lease for 99 years with `1 payable as rent. The BMC has planned to spend `500 crore on developing the zoo, which will have jungle safari, leopard safari and a conservation breeding centre. The 100-acre zoo will be an enclave of the civic run zoo in Byculla. The ownership of the land would continue to remain with the forest department, while the maintenance and operations will be managed by the BMC. The civic agency will be the controlling authority for the proposed zoo, it will appoint the consultant for the preparation of the master plan as well as the Project Management Consultant.
The BMC will manage the proposed zoo as per the provisions of the National Zoo Policy 1998, Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and scientific management of the zoo issued by the Central Zoo Authority—New Delhi, from time to time. The proposed international zoological park will be executed by the BMC fully by its own funds and the net revenue generated will be shared between the BMC and the Forest Department on a mutually-agreed ratio.
