The penguin enclosure at the Byculla zoo causes concern for the authorities as it is alone responsible for monthly electricity consumption worth Rs 9-10 lakh due to the high quality equipments used for looking after them. Express Photo by Aishwarya Maheshwari, May 27, 2017, Mumbai
In a bid to safeguard the health of the seven penguins housed in Byculla Zoo, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to set up an integrated business management system for monitoring installations such as air conditioning, chillers and temperature, and fire alarms at the penguin enclosure. Civic officials said the move is aimed at increasing the safety of penguins and reducing human interventions in the activities at the penguin enclosure.
“The integrated business management system will have the Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning Technology and Fire Alarm System. It will have sensors and actuators that will detect any issue and activate the preventive system,” explained an official. The official added that the proposal is being prepared by the building and maintenance department in consultation with zoo authorities. “The system should have been in place since the penguin enclosure was started. It is now being proposed to be installed after learning a lesson from the death of a penguin last year,” said the official.
Another official said a presentation was given by an IIT professor about the technologies for monitoring the penguins enclosure. “The proposal is being prepared. The work order will be issued after fifteen days. It will take a month to install the integrated business management system at the penguin enclosure,” said Sanjay Tripathi, director of the Byculla Zoo .
Besides the penguin enclosure, the system will be installed for other enclosures as well. Since the work is already included in the scope of other works, it will be given to the existing contractor, he added.
Last year, a controversy had erupted after a one-and-a-half-year-old penguin died on October 23 after a brief illness. At present, there are seven penguins at the Byculla Zoo. The civic body had brought eight penguins — three males and five females — in July last year from Seoul, South Korea, at a cost of around Rs 2 crore. Earlier this month, the civic body gave its approval to hike the entry fees of the zoo to Rs 50 per person from Rs 5.
The new charges would come to effect from August 1.
