Zoo to take over aquarium project from City Corporation

MCC has spent Rs 5 crore on the project, says Commissioner

With Mysore City Corporation (MCC) failing to complete the four-year-old state-of-the-art aquarium project at Karanji lake, on the lines of the one in Hyderabad due to fund crunch, Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens has come forward to shoulder the responsibility.

The MCC had taken up the aquarium project under the Chief Minister's special grant of Rs 100 crore. MCC estimated Rs 10 crore as the total cost for completing the works under three phases -- civil, installation of aquarium, and procurement of fishes for the aquarium.

However, MCC faced fund crunch after completion of works under phase-1. The aquarium, at the Karanji lake bund and Mysore Zoo road near Karanji Lake Nature Park, was designed by a Bangalore based architect, who has executed similar projects elsewhere in India and abroad. The total area of the aquarium is around 1,500 sq feet.

Sources in Mysore Zoo confirmed that a letter was sent to MCC Commissioner P G Ramesh to hand over the aquarium to the Zoo. “The additional facility will add more attraction to the Zoo and will facilitate tourists visit all the tourist spots under one roof,” said a top Zoo official.

Only fresh water fish

When the project was conceived, it was decided to bring in saltwater fish. Zoo authorities however aren’t too comfortable with this idea.

“It will not be feasible to showcase saltwater fish because of the cost factor, and also because of the unavailability of saltwater for the fishes. So we have dropped the plan, and decided to showcase fresh water fish,” said the official.

MCC Commissioner Ramesh said that decision to hand over the project would be taken soon after the council meeting. “Due to election code of conduct, we could not hold discussions with Zoo officials,” he added. 

Ramesh said that so far MCC has spent around Rs 5 crore for the works completed.Once the project (implemented in three phases) is completed, four tourist spots — Mysore Zoo, aquarium complex, the proposed elevated community park, and the Karanji Lake — will be interconnected.