Twitter
Advertisement

Don’t fail this green lung

The 150-year-old Veermata Jeejabai Bhosale Udyan in Byculla is struggling to retain its original identity, thanks to an apathetic municipal corporation. Spread over 53 acres and housing 3,213 trees, the botanical garden continues to be dwarfed by the zoo.

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

The 150-year-old Veermata Jeejabai Bhosale Udyan in Byculla is struggling to retain its original identity, thanks to an apathetic municipal corporation. Spread over 53 acres and housing 3,213 trees, the botanical garden continues to be dwarfed by the zoo.

In July 1865, philanthrophist and educationist Jagannath Shankerseth made a rousing appeal at a meeting of the Agri-Horticultural Society of Western India to save the city’s largest botanical garden.

“The Victoria Museum and Gardens is emphatically the greatest public work hitherto undertaken in the city and we must not in 1865 stop short in it because of the unfortunate crisis which has overtaken Bombay,” he had said.

Shankerseth, the then president of the society, was concerned that the 1865’s economic crisis had threatened the garden’s existence merely three years after opening to the public.

“..what I wish is that we all jointly come to the rescue, in other words, that we consider the difficulty as if there had been no crisis of which in truth and fact the history of the gardens is completely independent,” Shankerseth had said.

He wanted to safeguard the largest open space in Bombay for public resort and scientific endeavour despite the Society’s incurring colossal losses. The financial crunch was so severe that the civic authorities were forced to ask for public and private contributions to save the garden.

More than a century after the educationalist’s appeal, Veermata Jeejabai Bhosale Udyan (VJBU), earlier known as Victoria Gardens, is finding it hard to retain its original identity.
Mumbai’s nature lovers and activists have been campaigning for giving it the much-deserved recognition in the garden’s 150th founding year. They are demanding the authorities to take measures to conserve the botanical garden’s unique natural and built heritage.

Hitokshi Rustomfram of the Save Rani Bagh Botanical Garden Foundation (SRBBGF) rued the garden’s neglect. “Since Rani Bagh is not a part of the city’s heritage mile from CST to Fountain in South Mumbai, it probably did not get as much attention as the heritage monuments. We tend to associate heritage with built heritage. We do not value our natural heritage,” she said.

“Our attempt has always been to highlight that it is a heritage botanical garden. All the buildings in South Mumbai came after (Rani Bagh). It does not help that the city’s municipal corporation has not done enough towards conserving the natural heritage of the garden,” Rustomfram added.

Zoo gets importance
Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan in Byculla, popularly known as Rani Bagh, was established as a public botanical garden (Victoria Gardens) in 1861 by the then Agri-Horticultural Society. It was open to the public in November, 1862.

Initially, it covered over 33 acres which later increased to a sprawling 48 acres when 15 acres were added to build a zoo in 1890. Between 1995 and 1998, six acres more was added from Podar Mills and Miller compounds, expanding the total space to 53 acres.

Although the zoo is a small part of the expansive garden, yet for the city’s municipal administration and the public only the zoo gets importance while the natural heritage in the botanical garden remains neglected.

The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) has advocated the recognition of the Udyan’s status as a botanical garden, which is a hub of field trips for botany students and researchers.

“A study conducted in 2007 showed that the garden has a rich diversity and the ecological and academic relevance of the space is very high as compared to South Mumbai, which has no equivalent continuous expanse of green,” said Atul Sathe, manager (communications), BNHS. 

With the BMC being apathetic towards any formal acknowledgment, Mumbai’s civil society recently commemorated the 150 year anniversary of the VJBU. The BNHS,  National Society of the Friends of Trees and (SRBBGF) launched Rani Baug-150 years, a book which documents the heritage garden’s evolution over the years.

“The book was released to commemorate 150 years of Rani Bagh, which is home to 3,213 trees of 286 species. Adorned by heritage monuments, which pre-date most other city monuments, an attempt was made to convert the area into a genuine recreational and green space in the island city,” said Sukhada Nikharge, one of the two editors of the book.

The book has eight essays on historical, architectural, botanical and social aspects of the garden. Some prominent Mumbaikars who have contributed to the collection of eight essays and more than 200 photographs include former history professor Mariam Dossal, conservation architect Vikas Dilawari and conservationist Bittoo Sehgal.

Expert solution
Recently, the municipal corporation announced that the multi-crore revamp plan for the zoo had been approved by the Central Zoo Authority (CZA).

As per the revamp plan, the zoo will be house 18 new species of Indian animals, including the Indian hyena, jackal, wolf, sloth bear, wild dogs, porcupine, gaur, mouse deer, swamp deer, sambar, common otter, Asiatic lion, Bengal tiger, leopard, jungle cat, common civet cat, palm civet cat and the large Indian civet cat.

Five exotic species of animals – jaguar, humboldt penguin, hippopotamus, zebra and emu-- have also been added. A separate plan to conserve the heritage inside the garden has also been chalked out but as usual the natural heritage has been ignored. 

Rustomfram said simple solutions could help save the prestigious green lungs. “To ensure that the rare trees in the garden are conserved, the corporation simply needs to ensure that there are enough signboards, a conservation education centre and basic facilities to help raise awareness and knowledge of the visitors,” she said.

According to former administrators and wildlife experts, the solution is to develop a zoological park in Aarey Milk Colony and empty the zoo of all animals.

DM Sukthankar, former chief secretary of Maharashtra, objected to restricting big animals withing 53 acres. “A full-fledged new zoo in a larger acreage on the outskirts of the city, towards its north must be vigorously pursued by the municipal corporation and the state government,’’ he said.

“As per the Central Zoo Authority’s directives, bigger animals need to be kept in their natural habitat. The botanical garden has its own relevance because of its rich biodiversity and that should be protected,” he said.

In October last year, state forest minister Patangrao Kadam announced that his department was preparing a plan to set up a zoo of international standard spread over 200 acres in Aarey Milk Colony. The proposal estimates an investment of around Rs400 crore.
Asad Rahmani, BNHS director and member of the National Board for Wildlife, said: ‘’A scientifically managed, modern zoo or zoological park in Aarey Colony is a good idea.”

Vanishing green
In their joint article in the book, Rustomfram and Nikharge have underlined the garden’s egalitarian character. “Throughout its chequered history Rani Bagh has remained an accessible public space, a cosmopolitan haven for all, particularly underprivileged sections,” the article reads.

Dr Usha Mukundan, chairperson, University Board of Studies in Botany, aptly underlines the garden’s relevance for the present times. “In a scenario when small local green patches are fast vanishing in Mumbai and students lack the opportunity of studying even the more common specimens in their neighbourhood, Rani Bagh as a botanical oasis gains even greater importance.”
 

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement