India’s largest tunnel aquarium ‘Aqua Marine Park’ to come up in Hyderabad

With over 2,50,000 sq. ft built-up area, this tunnel aquarium will come up in the Kothwalguda Eco Park spread over 4.27 acres

Hyderabad: The Aqua Marine Park (tunnel aquarium) in Hyderabad will be India’s largest such project that will be built with Rs 300 crore. With over 2,50,000 sq. ft built-up area, this tunnel aquarium will come up in the Kothwalguda Eco Park spread over 4.27 acres.

The curved tunnel will be at least 100 metres with a 3.5-metre walkway and a 180-degree view. “We are also exploring options to set up such multiple tunnels,” said an official from Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) Department.

This Aqua Marine Park will have tunnels with a wide variety of aquamarine species including a fish, reptiles etc. It will also have a restaurant with a view of exhibits /panel displays, dome theatre, 7-D theatre, virtual aquarium, touch tanks, koi feedings and interactive kiosks for children. The theatre will have a seating capacity of 25 people.

The India’s biggest tunnel aquarium will have a minimum capacity of accommodating around 2,500 persons and the water volume will not be less than 3 million litres for the overall aquarium and not less than 2 million litres for the tunnel tank alone. It will have over 300 species including freshwater, brackish water and marine/saline water species with a total of over 10,000 animals including fishes, reptiles and other marine and land-based creatures with a mix of ornamental fish, domestic and imported species.

It is planned to include 50 separate exhibits/overall panel displays i.e., viewing screens, and the overall acrylic viewing panel will be around 1,000 square metres. As per the proposal, in the Aqua Marine Park, 10 per cent of the species would be changed/replaced with new species every year.