Aquarium makeover

Visitors to the renovated Taraporevala Aquarium on Marine Drive will be able to touch the fish and even swim with them in a huge fish tank, reported the Hindustan Times (HT) on July 10, 2013. There will be "an experience center, touch pool and fish foot spa. People will be able to handle fish to learn more about them, while the foot spa will let them avail of foot treatments,” Parag Jain Nanotiya, fisheries commissioner informed HT.

Taraporevala Aquarium: renovated and restocked

Though ambitious plans to have a world class oceanarium had to be scrapped, the fisheries department was entrusted with the renovation of the iconic Aquarium on a much smaller scale. The work is nearing completion and the facility will soon be open to the public. The external façade will be fully illuminated so that it stands out, the newspaper reported. The new aquarium will have bigger tanks for marine, exotic and Indian species of fish with the total number of species on display going up to 100 from 54. There are plans to build an 11-storey building at the rear of the existing structure which will have two levels of parking and will house the fisheries department and Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, HT mentions.
The renovation work cost Rs 20 crore and is in its final stages of completion, mentioned Mid Day on July 10, 2013. Visitors will now have to pay more for admission — Rs 20, Rs 30 and Rs 50 (for students, children under 16 years and adults) — whereas the earlier rates were Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 15 respectively. But with 16 tanks for marine life, nine for fresh water fish and 32 tanks for tropical fish, that would not be too high a price to pay.