The civic body claimed that the birds had helped increase the facility's revenue (Representational)
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has defended the Rs 15.26 crore tender it had floated for the upkeep of penguins at Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan, popularly known as Byculla zoo, and claimed that the birds had helped increase the civic-run facility's revenue.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the civic body said the zoo's income had surged to Rs 14.36 crore between April 2017 and March 2020, as against Rs 2.10 crore between April 2014 and March 2017, with the arrival of the flightless birds.
The BMC had in August floated a tender at the cost of Rs 15.26 crore for the upkeep of seven penguins at the zoo for three years, which comes to an expenditure of around Rs 5 crore for a year.
A political controversy erupted after the Congress criticised the ruling Shiv Sena over the tender.
The civic body claimed that the total value of the tender was Rs 11.46 crore, while the income of the zoo increased by Rs 12.26 crore since the arrival of penguins.
"It is clear that the increase in the income of the zoo after the arrival of penguins is higher than the money spent on maintaining the birds," BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said, adding that it was incorrect to say that the civic body was suffering losses because of the penguins.
A BJP corporator, meanwhile, said the hike in the zoo's revenue cannot be attributed to the penguins alone, as the ticket prices at the facility have gone up from Rs 5 to Rs 50 since August 1, 2017.
The BMC in its statement highlighted that the C-packet about the financial bid is yet to be opened, following which a decision about the lowest bidder will be taken.
The civic body said it is also trying to bring down the upkeep cost of the penguins' enclosure.
Eight penguins - three males and five females - were brought to Byculla zoo from Coex Aquarium in Seoul, South Korea in 2016, and one of the birds died later.
Spread over 1,800 sq ft, the penguin enclosure at the zoo comprises a pool, an accommodation area, air handling units and a cooling system.
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