Taraporewala Aquarium may play host to penguins,whales ……..Ashley DMello
Mumbai: City residents could be walking next to penguins and cheering the antics of orca performing somersaults in a pool in the following few years.
The government is examining a bid by a Malaysian firm to rebuild the Taraporewala Aquarium as an oceanarium,which will have several exotic species like penguins and whales (orca).
Penguins and orca are a great draw in oceanariums abroad.Orca,also known as killer whales,are the largest species of the ocean dolphin family.They are popular in US oceanariums and aquatic parks where they are trained to perform acrobatics in large pools.
Consultant to the state government on a Private-Public Partnership (PPP) model,Ajai Saxena said the project will be a first of its kind in the country.Several states are going ahead with projects for oceanariums but this will be the first one.
The private firm will design,build,finance,operate and transfer it to the government after 35 years.The project is expected to cost Rs 250 crore and will entail building specialised habitats.It has been in the offing for several years, he said.
According to government officials,one of the main challenges in running the oceanarium would be maintenance.The oceanarium would house fishes and animals in cold waters.Others would be kept in temperate pools and the rest in tropical settings.The public will be shown some of the exhibits on moving platforms.All this equipment will require proper maintenance, they said.
This project is being planned as more advanced than the oceanarium at Sentosa in Singapore,said a government official.
The Taraporewala Aquarium was set up by the government in the 1950s and was a major attraction for visitors to the city.
However,it has been neglected for the last ten years.The government had come up with a plan to modernise the aquarium and make it a city attraction again.