Once visited by Saudi King, Mumbai's Juma Masjid pond gets a makeover

Mumbai, June 9 As the city continues in spells of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, the management of the historic Juma Masjid in south Mumbai once graced by the late King Saud bin Abdulaziz al Saud of Saudi Arabia have embarked upon an unusual mission clean-up of the ancient pond inside the mosque.

A team of workers got onto the task from Monday, descended in the 10-feet-deep pond, caught all the goldfish, silverfish and turtles and transferred them to a temporary fish tank, emptied up the misty greyish-green water, and launched a thorough weeklong cleaning operation, along with minor repairs on the floor.

"This is the first time in 12 years that we are doing this, taking advantage of the lockdown when few Muslim faithful turn up for prayers here We do a clean-up at intervals of several years, depending on the requirements," the Juma Masjid's Chief Mufti Ashfaq Kazi told .

"Soon, the lockdown may be lifted. At that time, we don't want any faithful to be at any kind of risk, so we decided to spruce-up this ancient pond," Juma Masjid of Bombay Trust

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