Construction of fountain causes trouble to visitors of Byculla museum

A fountain is being installed in the garden in front of the Bhau Daji Ladu00c2u00a0museum

Visitors at Byculla's Bhau Daji Lad museum have not been too happy this week, owing to the noise and dust arising out of the fountain work in the adjoining garden. The civic body's plan to revamp the garden is hampering the museum's visitor count, the museum staff claimed.

Civic officials, however, said that there are no fountains in the entire 68-acre plot, and the Rs 35-40-lakh fountain project "will thus add to the beauty of the garden, and take a couple of months to be completed."

'No intimation from BMC'
Staff members at the museum said that the months between November to April usually see a surge in visitors but this work "is bothering visitors who expect a serene and calm ambience in a museum," said a museum official, adding, "Owing to the dust, we have to clean the cases containing the artefacts more frequently than is advisable."

Tasneem Mehta, director of the museum, said that the BMC did not give the trust any intimation about the work. "The museum and the BMC should work in sync. We have been maintaining the gardens around the Bhau Daji Lad museum since 2003. The digging work that has been taken up recently is undoing all the work that we've done," said Mehta.

The historic statues and busts in the museum's east lawns are being affected by the restoration work on the Fitzgerald mountain (top), museum authorities said

'No need to intimate museum'
A significant portion of the lawn has also been cordoned off for restoration work of the Fitzgerald monument here since July last year. Carried out by conservation architect Pankaj Joshi, "the work being done in the east lawn is a threat to the historic statues and busts that are exhibits in custody of the museum," said Mehta.

In response, a senior civic official said that the garden is a part of the zoo and there was no requirement to intimate the museum staff. "The museum is confined to the building and they are not concerned with the project. We have all the necessary permissions since the plans have been approved by the heritage committee which is the only concerned statutory body," said the official.

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