CUTTACK: Visitors can enjoy the exhilarating experience of walking through a ‘tunnel aquarium’ at Baliyatra this year. The tunnel aquarium, touted to be the first-of-its-kind in Odisha and spread over 10,000 sq feet at the lower Baliyatra ground on the bank of Mahanadi river, is being set up by a city-based organization, Shirdi Saibaba Enterprises. The 150-foot-long and 60-foot-wide aquarium is being made of 15 mm transparent glass supported by iron angle frames. More than 1,000 species of marine and freshwater fish including small sharks, jellyfish, whales, and various colorful ones will be kept inside the 200-foot-long aquarium.
This apart, the structure will also exhibit creatures like crocodiles, octopuses, elephants, and figures of deities like Lord Narayan sleeping on water. “Such permanent underwater tunnel aquarium has been set up for tourists at Thailand sea beach in Bangkok. I had seen it two years back and planned to set up a temporary tunnel aquarium through a Chennai-based organization at an estimated cost of around Rs 50 lakh,” said proprietor of Shirdi Saibaba Enterprises Abhishek Jena of Gopalpur.
The tunnel aquarium will have three entrances and four exits. The price of the ticket will be between Rs 150 to Rs 200. “We have started assembling the tunnel aquarium from Thursday with the aim to complete it before the beginning of the Baliyatra festival. Walking through the tunnel will feel like you are walking inside the sea,” said Jena.