Longer queues, traffic snarls, but renovated aquarium fails to impress

The visitor queues are getting longer, and the only novelty that seems worth the wait is a three stride-long tunnel aquarium, bigger tanks and some improvement in the aquascaping.

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However, visitors looking to get a feel of marine life cannot touch the sea anemone, star fish and sea urchins at the touch pool, which was planned as a major attraction after the revamp.

The aquarium sees an average of 6,000 visitors on weekends and 4,000 on weekdays. Long queues spill out onto Marine Drive for buying tickets, and with no parking space, cars and buses park along the busy road, leading to traffic congestion.

The traffic police has stepped in to address the congestion. “We have now allowed parking in the lanes between Islam Gymkhana and Grant Medical College and have asked for more bandobast in the area for crowd management,” said Pravin Padwal, DCP (Economic Offences Wing), who currently holds additional charge as DCP (Traffic).

Aquarium curator Vijay Shikare said that there was no permission to expand the aquarium as it is a part of the Marine Drive heritage precinct.

One reason for the traffic snarl is lack of signages to direct motorists to the BMC pay-and-park facility near the Police Gymkhana not far from the aquarium.

“We are asking the civic body to put up signages so that the traffic problem is resolved. To control the crowd, we allow only 200 people inside at a time and have asked for four additional security guards at the aquarium,” said Shikare.

Fisheries commissioner M B Gaikwad said that ticket sales have been reduced to manage the crowd. Visitors can now book tickets only between 10 am to 1 pm, and 2-5 pm.

On allowing human contact at the touch pool, Gaikwad said that the prohibition may be due to reasons of hygiene. “Problem may be that people do not handle the animals with care, which is why, probably there are not being allowed to touch.” The large number of visitors has already “stressed” the sea horses and had to be sent to quarantine.

Gaikwad added that as the fisheries department has no documentaries of its own, it is planning to show films on fishing in Andaman and Lakshadweep and on schemes to promote fisheries. The additional constraint is that the theatre can seat only 48, and the department is working out a solution to the problem.

Officials said that a canteen is under construction, which is needed as the wait to get in can last up to an hour.

anjali.lukose@expressindia.com