Since March 17, Byculla’s Veermata Jijabai Udyan has been seeing a large volume of visitors — 20,000 on weekends and 12,000 on weekdays — to see the newly arrived Humboldt penguins
On an average, 20,000 people visit the enclosure on weekends. PIC/SURESH KARKERA
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Since March 17, Byculla’s Veermata Jijabai Udyan has been seeing a large volume of visitors — 20,000 on weekends and 12,000 on weekdays — to see the newly arrived Humboldt penguins. That the view of the exotic creatures, native to South America, was free, helped boost the numbers. But, it also meant a tough crowd-management challenge for the BMC, which planned to levy a fee of Rs 100 for entry to the enclosure from Saturday onwards.
It might have been an April 1 gesture. The queues yesterday were as long as ever, as no charge was being levied.
The proposed fees of Rs 50 for children and Rs 100 for adults — building the enclosure and acquiring the penguins cost the exchequer Rs 43 crore — hasn’t yet been approved by BMC’s Group Leaders, i.e. corporator representatives from each political party in the BMC. It’s after their approval that the proposal will be sent to the Standing Committee and House where all the corporators will take a decision. It might take a fortnight or so.
“As long as I can watch these birds without difficulty, I don’t mind paying. But then the BMC can surely lower this amount,” said S More, a Currey Road resident.
For now, the authorities are installing barricades and closing gates to the enclosure two hours earlier, at 3 pm, to manage the enthusiastic crowds.
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