Change In The Offing At Taraporewala Aquarium, Mumbai?
Dolphin and small sharks. A three-dimensional underground tunnel, fitted with the latest gizmos, which will give a 360 degree view of marine life. A revolving restaurant on the top floor. Great plans for the Taraporewala Aquarium in Mumbai, but … will this see the light of day?
A short trip down memory lane: Started in May 1952 by the fisheries department, a Singaporean company had been roped in to renovate the aquarium in 1998. However, it withdrew from the joint venture as it did not find the government’s terms acceptable. Subsequently, the renovation project got stuck in litigation between government and the Singapore company till 2000. A friend and I had visited it a few years back, and we had come out feeling sorry for the fish in there.
However, according to a recent presentation by urban development secretary Manu Kumar Srivastava, the government has given its go ahead to increase the FSI from 1.33 to 4 FSI for the existing plot spread over 4,369 sq mt.
Following the revamp, which is slated to begin in about 3 months, the aquarium is expected to house close to 150 exotic species of aquatic animals in addition to 50 Indian species. Some of the species expected to be displayed include the whale and the shark. The aquarium now has 55 species.
Footfalls at the aquarium had decreased over the last decade. In 1992-92, 13 lakh tourists visited the aquarium which dropped to 3 lakh in 2006-07.
Here’s keeping my fingers crossed.
