The state government has proposed to delete the reservation of garden & zoo for a 1,375 sq m (14,800 sq ft) plot adjacent to Byculla zoo and convert it into a residential zone. Following directive from the state’s urban development department (UDD) BMC approved the changes in December and its development plan (DP) department has invited suggestions and objections from the public for the proposed change.
The state claimed the plot was not being acquired by BMC for the expansion of the zoo and that no garden or zoo existed there. Officials said that in DP-2034 the plot in Mazgaon Division was reserved for a garden/park and zoo and later the government notified the reservation as garden and zoo.
UDD through a letter dated nov 16, 2022 directed to follow due process for modification under section 37 (1) pf of the Maharashtra Region and Town Planning (MRTP) Act 1966 for deleting the reservation of garden and zoo and include the said plot in residential zone as the plot is not included in acquisition process by BMC. Further there is no existing garden/zoo on the site, the BMC notice said.
Officials said administrator Iqbal Singh Chahal accorded the sanctions to the proposal through a resolution in December 2022 to modify the plots’s reservation and invite suggestions/objections from the public.
