Aquarium to get new look to attract visitors

Aquarium to get new look to attract visitors

Government plans swankier place with a fisheries museum showcasing fossils

Prerna Agarwal and Geetika Sood



Fish lovers in Bangalore are ecstatic as the government aquarium will get a bigger and swankier look. The renovation work of the structure standing on Kasturba Road will begin soon. It will have a fisheries museum and more exotic varieties of fish to draw more visitors.
"We're planning a bigger marine aquarium. The fisheries department has approached the government along with the ecology and environment department. Their plans are under discussion," said Narayana K, curator of the aquarium.
"We also plan to set up a fisheries museum which will showcase marine fossils. The varied collection of the museum may include sharks, live corals, starfish, and polyps. It will attract those interested in marine life. Our aim is to show what an excellent and varied educational resource we have," he said.
The aquarium is home to a variety of species of fishes that are exotic and indigenous. There are about 70 varieties of fish. About 1000 people used to visit the aquarium every day. But their number has now fallen to a mere hundred.
"We want more tourists to come here. So we're going to change the inner look of the aquarium and place more attractive displays like the Feng Sui fish, which people normally buy for luck. We plan to make the outside ambience more inviting by setting up a compound and fountains.
We've been visiting more aquariums to get better ideas. It's taking a longer time than we expected since we are short on staff," he said.
The diamond-shaped building has three floors. The ground floor has the curator's office and the laboratory.
The first floor has 14 big tanks of cultivable fish like Eel, tin foil barb, Albino shark, the feather back etc. The second floor has both large and small fishes kept in separate tanks exhibiting their habitat. There are 37 tanks with approximately 15 fish in each.
"Some tanks were empty and a few others tanks did not have the name tags for the fish. It was, still, a worthwhile experience," said a recent visitor.
The new fish for the aquarium are routinely bought from the market.
"We work along with NGOs and a few fishery organisations. The new aquarium plan is not finalised, but we will be sending a quotation to the government in the near future," said aquarium authorities.
Situated at Cubbon Park, this is the second largest aquarium in the country. It was opened in 1983 and it is maintained by the Department of Fisheries of Karnataka.