Why spend so much on penguins again? Congress criticises BMC

The remaining seven Humboldt penguins at the Byculla zoo

The Congress on Sunday criticised the Shiv Sena-ruled Mumbai civic body for floating a tender at an estimated cost of Rs 15 crore for the upkeep of seven penguins in the Byculla zoo for the next three years.

Leader of Opposition in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Ravi Raja of Congress, said that Rs 10 crore had already been spent on the penguins under the current contract of three years which ends this month. "My objection is what is the need to spend so much again on the upkeep of penguins?" he said.

The civic body on August 13 issued a tender worth Rs 15.26 crore for 36 months for the upkeep of the penguins including quarantine and their health management. In a first, eight penguins- three males and five females- were brought to the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan, commonly known as the Byculla Zoo, in 2016. One of them died later.

Also Read: Mumbai: Byculla Zoo to expand by 10 acres for new animals

Bringing the flightless birds to the zoo was the pet project of Yuva Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray, who currently heads the Tourism Ministry in the Maharashtra government. The penguins had been procured from Coex Aquarium in Seoul, South Korea.

The enclosure for the penguins is spread over 1,800 sq ft and consists of a pool, accommodation area, air handling units and a cooling system. Civic officials said the penguins were a major tourist attraction before the zoo was shut due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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