If all goes well, the renovation work will start from June this year. Almost a decade after the efforts to renovate the aquarium fizzled out; the idea got a push in November last year when the government approved Floor Space Index of 4 for the project.
The renovation, which will take two years to be completed, will to be conducted on a BOT basis.
Four bidders have shown interest in the project, officials said. Two are joint ventures between Indian, Singporean and Malayasian companies and two are Australian companies. “Documents are being vetted by an all India panel of lawyers for legal sanctity. The final bidding process can begin once we get the documents,” said Ajay Saxena, adviser to the government for projects undertaken by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The ADB is involved in planning the renovation of the aquarium. “We will have the documents by next weekend. The final bidding will begin by the end of June,” he added.
The plan to renovate the aquarium, which was constructed in May 1951 by the fisheries department, was first proposed in 1998 by a Singaporean company. But it withdrew after it found the government’s terms unacceptable.
Till 2000, the renovation project was stuck in litigation between the government and the Singapore company.
According to the plan, the renovated aquarium will be a fifth generation aquarium, like the one in Beijing and Singapore, housing 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.
URL: Indian Express, (Mumbai Newsline – Page No 1)