Taraporevala Aquarium modernisation delayed

The wait for city’s first oceanarium just got longer.

The wait for city’s first oceanarium just got longer.

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The modernisation of Taraporevala Aquarium —which had inched forward in 2010-11 after being in the pipeline for more than five years — has come to a halt. Reason: the state government has decided to float a new plan for the project.

“The tenders that were invited earlier [for the project] have been cancelled. There will be re-tendering,” said fisheries minister Madhukarrao Chavan in a written reply to a query raised by legislator Vijay Sawant in the legislative council, on Tuesday.

The Taraporevala Aquarium, spread across 4,369 sqm, was built in the 1950s. In 2010, the state government came up with a plan to build an oceanarium, leading to the sea with whales and dolphins, on the lines of Singapore and Malaysia.

“The project was cancelled in a meeting on August 9, 2011. A committee to finalise the process of modernisation, headed by chief secretary Ratnakar Gaikwad, met on March 14. They are deciding on the next course of action for re-tendering,” Chavan said.

The previous bidder could not meet the tender conditions laid and so the project could not go ahead, said an official from the department on condition of anonymity.

The state might also look at re-considering the current aquarium site for setting up the oceanarium, said the official.

Sites such as the Worli Dairy, too, are being considered owing to their proximity to the sea.