The BMC gave the go-ahead for a four-acre themed garden, which will cover one-fourth area of the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale (VJB) Zoo.
The proposal tabled in the Standing Committee meeting was cleared on Wednesday. Rachana Sansad Academy of Architecture, Mumbai, has been appointed as the Project Management Consultant. The project is pegged at Rs 7 crore.
"The entire landscape will be divided under five different themes — grassland, forest, desert, aquatic and glacier. Each theme will feature plantations, signages, as well as installations, accordingly. It will be one of the most unique feature of the zoo, and will become a major attraction for tourists," said Dr Sanjay Tripathi, director of VJB zoo.
Tripathi explained that the grassland theme will have tall grasses, stones and boulders, along with short grasses, while the aquatic theme area will have aquatic floating plants and ground cover, while glacier will have glass crevasses installation and mosaic flooring land art. Each theme will also have installations to create awareness about them and all this will be done without interfering with the present landscape (trees or greenery) of the zoo.
"We had several brainstorming sessions with a team from Rachana Sansad, post which this detailed plan was prepared. Now, with the standing committee giving it a clearance, the Academy will prepare tender documents and it should be floated within a month. We expect the work to be completed within two years," he said.
FOCUS AREA
- The garden will cover one fourth area of the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale (VJB) Zoo.
- The five themes are grassland, forest, desert, aquatic and glacier.
- Proposal was cleared on Wednesday and is pegged at Rs 7 crore
