Very soon, you can enjoy the beautiful oceanic flora and fauna without getting wet at all as Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has ordered the setting up of a world class marine aquarium at a cost of Rs 250 crores in the coastal town of Mahabalipuram near here.
The aquarium would have exquisite features, complete with an acrylic walk-in tunnel to give visitors a first-hand experience of the deep sea environment.
An official statement released on Saturday said the aquarium would be set up by the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation through a Public-Private Partnership model. The project would get technical support from the State’s fisheries department.
The marine aquarium, which would be established on a 15-acre property, will have an authentic undersea ambience with marine flora and fauna that the visitors can view through acrylic tunnels.
The aquarium will have dolphins, seals, sharks, sea grass, coral reef and other ornamental fish exhibited in an enclosure.
Other features include canteen facilities, artificial lakes, musical fountains, amphitheatres, fish tanks and research laboratories.
The Tamil Nadu Urban Development Fund will select a firm to prepare a detailed project report, for which a sum of Rs 2.5 crores has been allocated.
Tamil Nadu, which has a coastline of 1,076 km, is the only State in the country to border Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, where rich marine flora and fauna are recorded.