Green walk at Byculla zoo to celebrate Women’s Day

Be up and early this Women’s Day for a date with nature. A Mumbai-based trust is organising a ‘women’s only tree walk’ at the Byculla Zoo between 7am and 9am on

Be up and early this Women’s Day for a date with nature. A Mumbai-based trust is organising a ‘women’s only tree walk’ at the Byculla Zoo between 7am and 9am on March 8. International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8 to eliminate discrimination against women and to increase their participation in global development.

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“Women’s Day is increasingly becoming a commercial affair instead,” said Raamesh Gowri Raghavan, research associate at the Instucen Trust, which will be organising the walk. “The day is becoming more about shopping discounts and restaurant vouchers. So we thought of making good use of the opportunity to acquaint women with nature again,” he said.

Spread on a 53-acre premises, the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan or the Byculla zoo, is one of the oldest public gardens in Mumbai. It is home to close to 3,000 trees of different species, some of which are also very exquisite. “Some of the trees in the garden are more than 150 years old,” said Dr Mugdha Kulkarni, managing trustee, Instucen Trust.

The organisers also want to spread awareness about the city’s rich biodiversity. “There is so much debate about Aarey colony alone, but do people know that the city has a very rich biodiversity,” Raghavan said.

The walk will be free of cost for women and will be led by eminent botanists from the trust, Raghavan said. Post this, the trust is also planning to have walks in different heritage areas of Mumbai. “We are planning walks around Parsi colony, the fort area, Hanging gardens and Byculla Zoo again,” Kulkarni added.