No longer will the travel-frenzy Bengalis need to travel to Singapore or Malaysia to witness a marine tunnel aquarium. In a unique move, the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) is joining hands with the Digha Sankarpur Development Authority (DSDA) to build the country's first marine tunnel aquarium in Digha.
"It will be a wondrous underwater journey with glass walls on either sides as the sea animals, predators and other ocean denizens swim right above your head. It will be most thrilling and the feeling will be such that you are venturing into deep sea," Anil Mohapatra, ZSI scientist and officer-in-charge of Marine Aquarium cum Regional Centre.
The existing campus of the Marine Aquarium cum Regional Centre is situated on 6-acre land at Foreshore in Digha which still has around 200 metres of land lying vacant. As per the ZSI's plans, the glass tunnel which will be approximately of 100 metre length will be built on that plot. "We have already sent the preliminary project plan to the Union ministry of Environment and Forest for its approval. The DPR will be made as soon as we get the nod," ZSI director Kailash Chadra said.
The matter was first discussed when the then Union minister of Forest Prakash Javadekar visited Kolkata for the centenary celebration of the ZSI in June last year. State Environment minister Sovan Chatterjee was also present at the discussion.
The DSDA will bear 10 percent of the project cost while the rest will be borne by the Centre. The project is pegged at around Rs 200 crore. The state-of-the-art technology that will be used for channelising sea water across the tunnel may also be procured from foreign countries. "We will go for tender both at the national and international level," Mohapatra said.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been working very hard to develop Digha as one of the most popular beach destinations of the world. "The proposed marine tunnel museum, which will be the first of its kind in India, will definitely boost her plans," a top official of DSDA said.
The existing Marine Aquarium cum Regional Centre has more than 500 marine species, including fish, snakes, molluscs, corals, crabs, prawns, lobsters and echinoderms.