Olympic-sized pool at the cost of a rare marine zoo

On the busy Veer Savarkar Marg, a few steps away from the mayor’s bungalow, Dr Nandkumar Moghe and volunteers for the Wildlife Wanderers Nature Foundation (WWNF) have nursed a treasure of marine life over the last 25 years. From Baob, the African knife-fish, the Red-fin Barb from Argentina, the Moon Oscar to the Leopard fish (scat) that were found in the deluge of July 26, 2005, the modest marine zoo has been home to over 250 different and rare species until recently.

But if the BMC has its way, the marine zoo will be replaced with the Mahatma Gandhi swimming pool that the corporation is currently renovating. The WWNF was served an eviction notice by the BMC on April 9. “They served the notice in the evening and asked us to vacate the premises in 72 hours,” Moghe said.

Left with no option, the WWNF then moved the city civil court seeking a stay on the eviction notice. WWNF’s advocate Jamshed Mistry told the court that the corporation has allotted the 2005 square meters of land at the prime location in June 1986 for the “unique project” of breeding rare marine life and medicinal forests.

In 1992, when the BMC had first tried to evict WWNF from the premises, the high court had heavily come down on the corporation and stated in its order, “Should the court be a silent spectator when the municipal authorities forcibly take possession and brutally destroys the property of the citizens?” The court, in its order of August 12, 1992, went on to add that the conduct of the municipal officers in ousting the WWNF from the premises and destroying marine life was “outrageous,” “high-handed” and “entirely illegal.” The corporation had challenged the order in the Supreme Court, which upheld the high court’s order.

However, the BMC’s notice served on WWNF stated that the WWNF was given the land on a temporary basis and as per the revocation order issued by the corporation on June 24, 1986, they were supposed to hand over the land back to the BMC. The notice stated that the land is required “in public interest” for the redevelopment of a swimming pool complex as reserved in the final development plan of that ward. The swimming pool is a part of the BMC’s 80-crore revamp project for the swimming pool and a martyr’s gallery. Mistry, however, said that WWNF’s ouster has already been overruled by the Supreme Court long back.

On Friday, however, judge ST Mahajan recorded the BMC’s undertaking stating that they will not take any action against the WWNF till April 19 and passed an interim order restraining the eviction. “The court is the common man’s only hope of getting justice,” Moghe said. However, the construction work started by the BMC and the dust and pollution caused by it has brought the number of species preserved by WWNF down from 250 to 30. “The fish that I have lost were priceless. They were members of my family. If these species are not preserved, our future generations may perhaps never get to see them,” Moghe said.