Mumbai Mayor moves into his new home in Byculla zoo

Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar with his wife Pooja take in the sights at their new home in Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan and Zoo on Monday. Pic/Ashish Raje

Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar had a quiet moving in ceremony yesterday at his new home in Byculla zoo, where he, his wife and son held a puja. The Mayor may have been used to mega-events at his earlier residence at Shivaji Park, particularly during festivals, but here in his new home, it is unlikely that he will get to throw a big bash for the housewarming. This is due to the zoo being a strict silent zone in accordance with the guidelines set by the Central Zoo Authority.

Moving in soon
While the Mayor was expected to move immediately in first week of January, the shifting of his belongings and the repair work was delayed than expected. He is now set to move in after a couple of days. A senior civic official said, "The repairs on the bungalow were completed and the Mayor's belongings were moved to the new residence. There was just a small puja that he had wanted to perform before moving in officially. He is likely to start living in there in a day or two."

The Mayor's belongings have been moved to the zoo bunglaow, and the family will follow soon

Farewell, Shivaji Park residence
This move will come more than three years after it was decided that Mahadeshwar would move out of the erstwhile Mayor's bungalow in Shivaji Park, to make way for the Bal Thackeray memorial proposed to be established there. On Wednesday, which also marks the birth anniversary of the late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, the memorial trust is likely to perform the groundbreaking ceremony.

His wife, Pooja, carries out the ritual boiling of milk to signal their move to the new home

Not his first choice
The last time BMC had offered the Byculla bungalow to Mahadeswar in 2017, he had turned it down stating that possible noise pollution from their functions would disturb the zoo animals.

However, with the three alternative bungalows in south Mumbai being too far for locals visiting from suburbs, this house was finalised as a temporary living arrangement for the Mayor. The BMC has provided additional parking space for the Mayor's guests and also installed a gate and guards to offer him security and privacy in the zoo premises. The civic body is mulling on developing one of its municipal gymkhanas near Shivaji Park in Dadar as the permanent mayoral bungalow. Despite repeated attempts to reach Mayor Mahadeshwar, he was not available for comment.

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