Penguins at Mumbai zoo and Aaditya Thackeray: The controversy

Donald, Daisy, Popeye, Olive, Flipper, Bubble and Mr Molt are once more within the information. But who’re they? They are penguins owned by Mumbai Zoo, because of the Cabinet Minister of Tourism and Environment for the Government of Maharashtra, Aaditya Thackeray. The Veer Mata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan Mumbai, or the Mumbai Zoo, is the one place within the nation the place you may witness seven penguins having enjoyable of their man-made habitat. These penguins, nevertheless, have been mired in controversy ever since, together with Aaditya Thackeray, who’s now being questioned in regards to the transfer.
All of them are Humboldt penguins that have been purchased from Seoul, South Korea, in July 2016. The species of the penguins have been named after the explorer Alexander von Humboldt from Chile, which is the unique habitat of those flightless birds. At that point, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had purchased eight penguins (three male and 5 feminine) for Rs. 2.5 crores.
The new controversy
Recently, the Mumbai Zoo has issued a young value Rs. 15.15 crores to recreate their pure habitat in an enclosure. As per experiences, the brand new habitat would unfold over 35,000 sq. ft of space and will probably be two-storey. To make sure the well being and well-being of the birds, the temperature of the entire enclosure needs to be maintained between 16 levels Celsius to 18 levels Celsius. The water temperature within the pond would stay between 11 levels Celsius and 16 levels Celsius. Such situations require enormous prices and have attracted one more controversy revolving across the birds.
Interestingly, it’s not solely BJP or opposition events which have opposed the venture. Shiv Sena’s ally Congress as properly has focused BMC over the tender value Rs. 15 crores+. They have termed the venture a waste of cash. Critics are questioning the BMC why the entire venture is being outsourced moderately than organising a mechanism to deal with the birds.
BJP chief Prabhakar Shinde additionally raised the query over the elevated quantity of the tender. He stated, “The earlier contract was awarded for Rs 10 crore. The BMC needs to justify the inflated cost.” OpIndia tried reaching out to Shinde however couldn’t join.
Ravi Raja, Congress, stated, “The penguins have been here for more than five years now. The BMC should have built an in-house facility to take care of them. They need to spend more money on rebuilding the health infrastructure in the city.”
BMC justified the tender value
BMC, then again, have tried to justify the associated fee. They stated that it might embrace the price of veterinary fees, fodder value, air con and air flow system, exhibit upkeep and quarantine space. It additional added that the brand new enclosure is important to make sure the hen lives. Otherwise, in keeping with BMC, their lives can be in danger.
The loss of life of penguins
One of the penguins, Dory, that have been purchased initially died because of a bacterial an infection and defective weather conditions inside two months of arrival to India. At that point, Thackeray was closely criticized for bringing such costly birds “only to die”.
Earlier in 2018, Highway Constructions, the corporate that’s at the moment sustaining the enclosure, was fined Rs. 1.4 crores as the corporate falsely claimed that they’ve a three way partnership with an organization that has experience in growing a assist system for aquatic life. The three-year contract is ending with the corporate quickly.
Another spherical of criticism got here in the way in which of BMC when a newly-born Humboldt penguin died inside seven days of its delivery. It was the primary penguin to be born in India. According to the official assertion, it died because of delivery anomalies.
Experts consider that Dory died because of a sudden change within the surroundings, and nobody was educated to deal with the unique birds. Many have stated it was a foul choice to carry the birds to be sizzling and humid in India.
The excellent news
Amidst all of the controversies, two penguin chicks, named Oreo and Flipper, have been born within the zoo. Oreo was born in May, whereas Flipper was born in August this 12 months. Four-months previous Oreo resides fortunately with the colony. On the opposite hand, Flipper continues to be underneath strict remark. 
The controversy round ‘Baby Penguin’
For the controversies penguins have prompted previously few years, many have began calling Aaditya Thackeray “Baby Penguin”. The hashtag makes its approach to social media platforms once in a while. Last 12 months, a person named Sameet Thakkar was arrested over a grievance filed towards him for calling Aaditya Baby Penguin on social media. The controversy went on for months, and he was launched from jail in November.