COMPREHENSIVE OVERVIEW

Protecting Mumbai's only heritage botanical garden
V.J.B. Udyan - Rani Bagh

The struggle of the Save Rani Bagh Botanical Garden Action Committee

Introduction
It is impossible to talk about V.J.B. Udyan, popularly known as Rani Bagh, without using superlatives - Mumbai's most visited park, most affordable park, largest green open public space, only heritage botanical garden, largest agglomeration of trees, widest species diversity.... the list is seemingly endless. This article sketches the why-and-how of struggle to save Mumbai's beloved botanical park.

Rani Bagh functions as a vital green lung for the city and is a botanist's haven with 843 plant species belonging to 149 families. Its wooded 53 acre campus has a wonderfully natural ambience carpeted as it were with over a hundred large and small internal parks. It has the singular distinction of being the one city location with the largest number of trees (3,213) and widest tree species diversity (286) in the island city. Ask any Mumbai Botany student - Rani Bagh is the unquestioned cradle for taxonomy study. All Mumbai Botany college departments (numbering over 50) have historically collected samples for their practical examinations from here.

The immense value of a public botanical garden can be appreciated when we consider that Mumbai has the lowest open space to population ratio in the world - 0.03 acre for 1000 people against the international norm of 4 acres per 1000. Rani Bagh is blessed with very fertile soil and trees here grow to girths and heights not usually seen in Mumbai. Unfortunately, no official data is available on the biological diversity of this rich habitat. A rough count has yielded 46 species of butterflies and 40 species of birds. The dense tree cover supports Mumbai's largest colony of fruit bats.

With an average of 8,000 visitors per day climbing to as many as 30,000 on holidays, V.J.B. Udyan is perhaps one of the most visited parks in the world. That it is much loved by Mumbaikars begs no further proof.

Early history of the heritage botanical garden
Visualize Mumbai - Bombay as it then was - in the mid 19th century. The British dispensation showcased its imperial glory through construction of grand public civic works: the CST railway station (then called Victoria Terminus), the Municipal Headquarters, the General Post Office, the High Court, the Gateway of India etc. Today these edifices stand proud as heritage symbols of Mumbai. In the same vein the Agri Horticultural Society established a 33 acre botanical garden in 1861 then called Victoria Gardens, in Byculla. The term Rani Bagh alludes to the name of the then reigning British monarch. Rechristened Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan in June 1969, Rani Bagh is as important a heritage site for Mumbai as other well-known monuments.

In 1873, as if to add to the pageantry of nature there, 15 acres were added to the Victoria Gardens to establish a small zoo. At the same time, the world economic recession led to the bankruptcy of the Agri Horticultural Society which ceased to exist - the then Bombay Municipality took over the facility. Ever since then the botanical garden and small zoo have co-existed. In the 1990s two additional adjacent plots were acquired bringing the total area to 53 acres.

In keeping with the European tradition of the day, the botanical garden was adorned with various monuments - a clock tower, a museum, a bandstand, the triumphal triple arch or Italianate gateway, a conservatory (a replica of the one at Kew Garden) and several imposing statues. The stately museum, clock tower and triumphal arch are made of Porbandar stone. The Italianate gateway with its Corinthian columns harmonises with the design of the museum, presenting an imposing entrance for the natural beauty within the park - a classic blend of built and natural heritage. In recognition of the importance of the concept of green heritage, V.J.B. Udyan has been accorded the status of a Grade II-B heritage site (serial no. 530 Schedule of Heritage Regulations) and the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC) has listed 'botanical garden' as a special feature.

The botanical gardens were laid out in the classical Renaissance axial planning design so prevalent in many European cities. The pathways are wide and radiate in all directions allowing the huge number of visitors enough space to wander about and enjoy the botanical gardens. All axes and pathways stood flanked by charming internal gardens. George Birdwood, the first curator of the Museum described Victoria Gardens as a garden of delight. Unlike many manicured parks Rani Bagh has a natural, welcoming, wooded ambience.

Ominous clouds of "makeover" gather
138 years of co-existence of the botanical garden and zoo was dealt a severe blow in April 2007. With much fanfare the BMC announced its plans for a makeover without parallel. A presumably fuddy-duddy park was to be transformed into a Singapore style "international" zoo. The "international" partners in the project: Ms. H.K.S. Designer and Consultant International for a hefty price tag of Rs. 4 crore set about designing the new "international" zoo.

The Save Rani Bagh Botanical Garden Action Committee takes shape
A group of us friends (Hutoxi Arethna, Katie Bagli, Sheila Tanna, Renee Vyas, Hutokshi Rustomfram and Shubhada Nikharge) - nature lovers frequented parks around Mumbai. For us Botany enthusiasts Rani Bagh was a favoured haunt. Shocked when we heard of the redevelopment proposal and knowing that Rani Bagh had no vacant treeless space we decided to band together and investigate. We found that we had entered the arena of struggle at an opportune moment - the BMC proposal had not yet received the mandatory approval of two statutory bodies: the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) and the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC). We attended RTI workshops and set about gathering the minutest data available - correspondence, plans, minutes of meetings etc. We resolved to neither seek nor accept any funding and shared the expenses. Soon we set up a website, floated an online petition and began garnering support of common citizens and environmental bodies.

Makeover menu
The heavy construction activity envisaged was sure to turn a natural green heritage site into a synthetic glass and concrete zoo. The list of new features was mind-boggling: Australian, African, South-East Asian and Indian zones, an aquarium, night safari, restaurants, even an artificial Indian Ocean! Where indeed was the space or the need for this elaborate amusement park? A glass walled fine dining eatery was planned from where well heeled patrons could view cheetahs as they wined and dined.

Existing and proposed land use
Note the dense greenery in the layout drawing marked Plate 1. As much as 63 percent of the area is denoted as area under garden. The area marked in blue denotes existing animal enclosures. In contrast note the shrinkage of the green area (Plate B) in the proposed master plan and the corresponding increase in the area under animal enclosures.

Pathways - heritage layout disregarded We learnt from architects that Rani Bagh was laid out in a Renaissance axial design and insisted before the MHCC that the existing layout was integral to its heritage status. The heavy crisscross of pathways was also a decongestion device when huge crowds visited. The proposed design however followed an "international" single pathway concept that would have certainly led to a stampede had it been implemented - as many as 30,000 visitors flock to Rani Bagh on holidays.

Impact of proposed makeover
Enormous construction activity The price tag itself sounded the direst warning. If Rs. 433 crore of public money was to be squandered then surely the scale of construction would have been enormous. The first layout drawings we received under the RTI Act confirmed our worst fears. Every existing pathway, water body, animal enclosure was slated to be demolished and a host of new ones constructed. New moats, electrification, water and sewage lines would have wreaked havoc on age-old root systems. The BMC acted as if it were dealing with a clean slate rather than a 150 year old heritage botanical garden.

Egalitarian park turns elitist?
After spending Rs. 433 crore of public funds the BMC glibly announced that fixing the post-makeover entry fee was their prerogative. What would the tab be? Rs. 300? Rs. 400? The issue of steep entry fee rise together with the preservation of the heritage botanical garden became the two chief planks of our on-line petition. We felt that common citizens, starved as they are of green open spaces, have every right to continue to visit Rani Bagh as they have for the past 150 years.

Milestones in a multi-pronged struggle
We harnessed all democratic institutions and processes accessible to common citizens. We forwarded innumerable memoranda, appeared for official hearings and site visits, raised our voice through the media and approached the Bombay High Court under writ jurisdiction.

Harnessing the power of the Right to Information
As the Save Rani Bagh Botanical Garden Action Committee we took a firm policy decision - one that we have observed to this day. We would approach every official but would keep away from politicians of all hues. The RTI Act became an invaluable tool. Often we procured the same documents from different bodies - for instance, the CZA and the BMC - and cross-checked data. We exposed the inconsistencies between stated positions and recorded minutes. Interestingly, BMC later stopped recording minutes of Rani Bagh meetings! Personal follow up, systematic scrutiny of documentation and detailed presentations have been our strengths. We built up a bank of correspondence with the BMC, CZA, MHCC and the MoEF and exhorted all four bodies to reject the proposal.

Awareness campaigns and solidarity
We raised awareness through nature trails and audio-visual programmes at schools and colleges. The media gave consistent coverage to the issue. Virtually all Mumbai environmental groups lent support - BNHS, WWF-India, Sanctuary Asia, FoT, CitiSpace, Awaz Foundation and BEAG. In addition UDRI, Oval Trust, AGNI and Clean Air too endorsed our position. We are deeply grateful to all the bodies listed above. All groups stressed along with us that a heritage botanical garden was location-specific and a large zoo, if needed for the city, be set up at an alternate location.

Focus CZA
As early as September 2007 we meet with the CZA Patnaik-Mehta expert team. Our CZA saga has seen many ups and downs. We met Rommel Mehta and S.K. Patnaik and convinced them when they visited the park. Even though their report supported our stand, the CZA accorded conditional approval to the plan stating that not a single tree bush or creeper be cut, transplanted or removed. This farcical condition, is of course impossible to translate into practice. We, however, remained undaunted, converted adversity to advantage and repeatedly quoted the CZA mantra to the BMC - not a single tree bush creeper could be touched. CZA officials informally told us the ball was in our court. In case construction began, they expected us to move the Bombay High Court and stop the work. We met the CZA officials in New Delhi three times and sent a stream of petitions citing numerous reasons for a review. This persistence bore fruit two years later when the CZA under a new Member Secretary did undertake a review and dispatched an investigating team - Dr. Bharucha and Mr. Patnaik. We met both experts and explained our concerns.

Knocking on the doors of the Bombay High Court
Since the early days of our struggle we were cognizant of the fact that we may eventually have to file a Public interest litigation (PIL). To this end we consciously created a water-tight record sending detailed representations to all official bodies. Several lawyers and a few environmental activists advised us to only fight for the survival of the trees and not for the entire botanical garden, its heritage layout and public access to trees. We, however, fought for all three issues. We argued that preserving the geographical area of the botanical garden, its layout and accessibility to trees would actually save them in practice. When the BMC announced that it was going ahead with the plan even though we knew it did not then have the requisite approvals, we filed a PIL to make the plan public. This and a subsequent contempt petition perhaps acted as a warning to the CZA, MHCC and BMC in later years. If we could move the High Court to make the plan public surely we would do the same to prevent the decimation of the botanical garden.

Focus BMC
Over the past four years of our struggle we have interacted with three Municipal Commissioners, two Additional Municipal Commissioners, three Superintendents of Gardens and innumerable BMC officials and the Union Minister of Environment and Forests. Rani Bagh became our second home and the BMC HQ became our third. We protested every unlawful act and impropriety - unauthorised construction works, BMC corporators on overseas jaunts at the BMC Consultant HKS Designers' expense, an interested MHCC member's wrongful presence at meetings and so on.

Focus MHCC
The struggle to convince the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC) to reject the plan was long and hard but also had its moments of occasional humor. We played our trump card in 2007 by successfully petitioning the MHCC to include the term botanical garden as a 'special feature'. Our hands were greatly strengthened by the unstinted and rock solid support of Mr. D.M. Sukthankar - former Chief Secretary and Chairman of the MHCC and Mr. S. Kale - former Municipal Commissioner and Chairman of the Pune Heritage Committee. They accompanied us to MHCC and meetings with the Municipal Commissioner. We presented minutely analysed data and countered every false claim with hard evidence demonstrating how the BMC manipulated figures to suit its ends.

At one juncture the then Additional Municipal Commissioner Mr. R.A. Rajeev denied the very existence of the botanical garden! Thus began a new phase in our struggle. We appealed to all environmental groups for their support to counter this ludicrous stance and furnished every available proof of the existence of the botanical garden - we laboured through volumes of gazetteers, histories of Mumbai, met heritage experts and historians, combed national and international websites. The AMC, Mr. Rajeev was not phased even when shown that BMC's own website listed Rani Bagh as a botanical garden. And he was not phased that he had himself accepted an award for a beautifully maintained heritage botanical garden in December 2008. Mr. Rajeev had happily accepted the Indian Heritage Society award from the then Maharashtra Governor at Raj Bhavan.

Impasse
The BMC refused to acknowledge the existence of the botanical garden - the members of the Save Rani Bagh Committee exhorted the MHCC to fulfill its mandate and protect the botanical garden. To navigate through this impasse the MHCC appointed Dr. Marselin Almeida and Dr. Asad Rahmani as experts. Both had long been well wishers of our cause and denounced the international zoo proposal in no uncertain terms. Their firm stand helped close the argument regarding the existence of the botanical garden. After 15 months of deliberations, the MHCC returned the proposal to the BMC in May 2010.

One of the objections in MHCC's rejection was that the BMC floral survey was inaccurate. The BMC decided to assign the task of conducting a fresh floral survey to Dr. Almeida. The detailed survey does the botanical garden proud - 843 plant species in a 53 acre campus is an outstanding benchmark.

Unauthorised construction and dumping of debris
We protested against the unauthorized construction of a temporary animal hospital where hundreds of bushes and climbers were cleared thereby violating CZA's cardinal condition and that later helped us secure a CZA review. In another instance, debris was dumped in an internal garden for 11 months. When after several complaints it was cleared four trees lay dead. We sent pictures to the BMC, CZA, MHCC and the MoEF and underlined that if in the process of debris dumping and removal four trees were destroyed then how many hundreds might actually be sacrificed once the grandiose makeover got underway?

Two decisive nails in the coffin were delivered courtesy the Minister of Environment and Forests Mr. Jairam Ramesh and the Municipal Commissioner Mr. Subodh Kumar. In March 2011 we met Mr. Jairam Ramesh who wrote to the Maharashtra CM unequivocally backing our stand. The Minister's office released his comprehensive letter to the press where it was widely reported. Soon after at a Mumbai press conference Mr. Ramesh declared that the sanctity of the botanical garden ought to be maintained. Mr. Subodh Kumar’s announcement of a budget trim also pushed the international zoo concept closer to the waste bin.

MHCC and CZA roundly reject international zoo proposal
In January this year following Dr. Almeida's floral survey the BMC re-presented the same plan with superficially tweaking before the MHCC. At a third formal hearing we exposed the usual contradictions and pitfalls and also demonstrated that 866 trees had vanished - they were not even plotted on the plan. The CZA under a new member secretary, Mr. Bonal, had written to the BMC stating that a large zoo as planned be located outside the city on a 50 hectare plot and asked for a revised plan. We obtained a copy of the CZA letter under RTI and presented it before the MHCC which accepted our contention that that the BMC had failed to disclose CZA's latest prescriptions. With the final directions from the MHCC to retain all pathways and existing animal enclosures and not build any new ones, the original plan for an international zoo was virtually cast aside. In May 2011 the CZA finally prescribed a strict limit on the number of Indian and exotic animal species and directed that the botanical garden area and its identity be preserved.

Current status – Redesigned Master Layout Plan
The master plan had to return to the drawing board yet again. The fresh proposal where only existing animal enclosures can be renovated has been submitted in September 2011 and once again had to do the rounds of the CZA and MHCC for consideration and approval.

We obtained this redesigned master plan under the RTI Act from the CZA and were happy to note that the latest plan was a big improvement over previous ones from the perspective of preserving the botanical garden. All pathways were retained as was the Renaissance axial planning feature in keeping MHCC directions. The overall ambience of a large botanical garden and a small zoo appeared to be preserved. However, a large section of the pathways has been designated as ‘service road’ and two large internal gardens and several small patches of garden area fall behind this proposed service road and are likely to become inaccessible to the public. This aspect is in violation of the MHCC direction that the existing area of the botanical garden must remain accessible.

In addition, the three acre Parcel C has been earmarked for construction of four buildings housing 116 flats for the staff. We have registered our strong objection to the above features. In November 2011 the CZA accorded in-principle approval to the latest redesigned plan after suggesting a few changes which are to be incorporated into the plan. We have represented our concerns and objections before the CZA and the BMC yet again. The zoo director has informally assured us that the two large internal gardens and all green areas beyond the service road will be made accessible but we await formal notification of the same. At the current moment (December 2011) the MHCC stands dissolved and a new Committee is yet to be appointed. As in previous years, we will argue our case before the MHCC at an official hearing (as and when it is appointed) and the redesigned plan presented before it for consideration.

Celebrating 150 years of the heritage botanical garden
Even though we have achieved moderate success in our campaign so far, we are acutely conscious of the need to be vigilant. To consolidate the struggle we have asked for a series of events to mark 150 years of the botanical garden - nature trails, booklets, field guides, brochures, a commemorative postal stamp, symposia, workshops and plaques in the park. A successful meeting with the Municipal Commissioner gave us hope that our suggestions will bear fruit. Thereafter we have had a series of meetings with the Director of the zoo and he has been receptive to many of our suggestions and shown much enthusiasm to conduct the programmes. However, bureaucratic delays in obtaining funds, has stymied these efforts. We have conducted a few nature trails for BMC school children as part of the 150 year celebrations and published a small information brochure. We remain hopeful that in the coming year we will be able to hold a series of events to mark the 150 year milestone in a befitting way. On November 19, 2012, which is 150 years from the day Lady Frere inaugurated the Victoria Gardens in 1862 we plan to hold a seminar with or without the BMC's participation.

Conclusion
We started out with no influential social contacts or money power. After nearly five years we look back and marvel at the number of organizations, professionals and genuine individuals who came forward to support us. This has been a great learning curve and a heartening experience for us all. The struggle to protect Mumbai's largest green open public space has been a journey punctuated by moments of anguish, moments of joy - all in all - an exiting and rewarding ride.