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Central Zoo Authority abdicates its duty --
‘approves’ master plan but imposes ‘conditions’

A copy of CZA’s letter no. 19-70/93-CZA(Vol.IX)(161)(M) dated 4-3-2008 addressed to Shri R.A. Rajeev, Additional Municipal Commissioner (City) has been uploaded for public scrutiny.
Shockingly, CZA’s stance is at great variance with the findings and recommendations of the ‘Evaluation of Master Plan for Veermata Jijabai Bhonsale Udyan Mumbai by Shri S.K. Patnaik and Prof. (Dr.) Rommel Mehta’ (link on home page), which asserts that the botanical garden will be destroyed if the Master Plan is implemented.

Despite the scathing Patnaik-Mehta report, the CZA has chosen to ‘approve’ the master plan on the condition that “no vegetation including trees, shrubs and creepers” be “felled/removed/transplanted”. Whereas, on the face of it, this condition is a partial victory for us concerned citizens, the BMC has sought to devise a new plan to pursue its agenda. Attempting to circumvent the prohibition to cut even a single tree, the Additional Municipal Commissioner has now declared that “diseased” trees will be cut during the ‘makeover’. We are making every effort to thwart this dangerous move by demanding a comprehensive tree health check from an independent authority (Forest Research Institute/the Botanical Survey of India/Bombay Natural History Society).

The CZA, which could have relied on the Patnaik-Mehta report to reject the Master Plan or direct the BMC to forward a revised Master Plan, has abdicated its duty by issuing a ‘conditional’ approval.

The following points are noteworthy:
  1. The Master Plan has not been made public
  2. The Patnaik-Mehta evaluation report has categorically asserted that large scale destruction of tree cover would take place if the Master Plan were implemented
  3. Therefore, the CZA’s approval of a Master Plan (which entailed widespread destruction of trees), while simultaneously imposing a prohibition to fell trees defies logic and contradicts its own expert committee recommendations
  4. The CZA has completely ignored a range of other crucial issues raised in the Patnaik-Mehta expert report
We continue to demand that the Master Plan be made public and so that an informed public debate followed by a public hearing can ensue.
   
  CZA letter page 1 CZA letter page 2
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