Byculla zoo to get hospital, underwater gallery

MUMBAI: The Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan or Byculla zoo will now get its very own veterinary hospital for large animals, within the zoo premises, complete with an operation theatre room, incubators and X-ray rooms.

This plan is part of a new project taken up at the zoo which includes the construction of an underwater viewing facility for alligators and crocodiles.

The zoo presently has an in-house veterinary clinic for small animals and birds.

Dr Sanjay Tripathi, director of the zoo, said, “As part of the zoo expansion plan, we will bring in many exotic large animals, such as giraffe even. The hospital is being made in preparation for that. The underwater viewing gallery for ghariyal (reptiles) is going to be one of the major attractions. As per the design conceptualised now, there will be a steep slope that will take tourists to an underwater viewing area.”

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) recently floated tenders for this project. The cost of the project is ₹50 crore and includes other construction works in the zoo premises, such as animal holdings for reptiles, construction of water bodies with 10 lakh litre capacity, landscaping work, quarantine facility for aquatic, arboreal and territorial work, and other plumbing and electric work.

As part of phase-3 of the zoo expansion project, BMC will bring in animals such as giraffe, zebra, white lion, black jaguar, chimpanzee, oryx, emu, cassowary, ostrich, okapi, ringtail lemur, and cheetah.

Phase-3 of the work also includes building an aviary for exotic bird species.

The underwater viewing gallery for reptiles is going to be one of the major attractions. DR SANJAY TRIPATHI, directorňofňbycullaňzoo