Mumbai:
All the animals housed at Jijamata Udyan (Victoria & Albert Zoo Gardens) may soon be eating from better pastures as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) gears up to float its annual tender for supply of fresh vegetables used to feed them.
Included in the tender is an order for 400 kg of onions, which will attract many wholesale vegetable suppliers.
According to BMC officials, this onion order is strictly for consumption by the zoo animals and not for employees working at the BMC headquarters.
In addition, the tender is not restricted to onions only, but also an assortment of other vegetables that the animals require for their daily diet.
The BMC claims that the vegetables on the tender list has always been standard every year, but somehow, the current price of onions at Rs 60 per kg has given rise to some speculation, which has put them in a questionable spot.
Anil Anjankar, director, Byculla Zoo, said, "We have been feeding the animals these vegetables every year. Onion works as a digestive stimulant for the animals, and hence has been included in their diet.
Everything else has remained the same except for the onion rates. We are floating a tender since we are not authorised to purchase material from the open market."
Every day, BMC uses half a kilo of onions for the animals and another half kilo for the birds. "The onions are finely chopped or crushed and the juice is added to the fodder fed to the animals.
Onions are necessary for elephants, rhinos, neelgai and a few other species of animals and birds like peacocks etc," said Anjankar.
While the zoo authorities claim that what they do is a regular thing, corporators at the BMC who would be instrumental in passing this tender during the standing committee meeting were amused.
"Do animals really eat onions? This is something I never knew about," said one corporator.
While some looked on in disbelief, there were also a few lighter moments at the BMC headquarters and one corporator was overheard saying, "Animals are now eating onions even though we cannot afford to."
Shopping listThe zoo's list comprises:
- 4,500 kg of green leafy vegetables