Dear Miguel Thanks for bringing memories of this old project. Yes, it was nice to read that Goa would be the first State in India which would get the Oceanarium, and I believe the project was supposed to be built by a Singapore based company if I am not mistaken, but as usual, our politicians are always there to spoil all dreams of people, and so it was.
Whenever I used to travel to Mumbai, the first place to visit used to be the Aquarium at Charni Road, and it used to be so nice to see so many fishes, and I used to always immagine visiting this miramar project all times I was in Goa, but than it was only a dream. Hope atleast now it becomes a reality. Cheers Jerry Fernandes On Sat, 26 Apr 2008 Miguel Braganza wrote : >25 April,2008 >In search of an Oceanarium >It was in the early 1990s that some farsighted planners proposed that >Goa should have an Oceanarium, the first in India, which would be a >major attraction for tourists. Prime land was located, on the seafront >at Miramar. But, some crooked builders were eyeing the property, and >successfully 'persuaded' the then government to 'shift' the site for >the proposed Oceanarium to the distant Pilerne plateau so that some >ugly but very lucrative real estate project could come up on the land. >Their ploy almost succeeded, except that the government changed and >when Dr Wilfred de Souza was chief minister, the Oceanarium project >was moved back to its rightful place and taken up in earnest. However, >for reasons that are not entirely clear, though the project was put up >as a public-private partnership, bids were received and the tender >awarded, it never really took off at all. Apart from putting up a >board at the site, no other work was really taken up. >It is good news, therefore, that the Department of Science, Technology >and Environment has decided to once more pursue this project >vigorously. A consultant has been appointed to upgrade and revise the >decade-old proposal. French and Australian companies have shown >interest. Though the project has twice failed to take off, hopefully >this time around it will be a different story. >Though the marine mammal park called Marineland in Florida, USA, >started in 1938, claims to be the 'world's first oceanarium', the more >modern concept of the term is a gigantic aquarium an artificial >ocean habitat with all kinds of marine creatures, especially large >ocean dwellers like sharks and dolphins. >One of the finest oceanariums in the world is in Lisbon, Portugal. Set >up for the Expo '98, it is dedicated to the great oceans of the world. >A large central tank contains species of the open ocean, from sharks >and large groupers to tuna and smaller fish. Four smaller aquariums >display the fish, marine mammals, molluscs and corals, as well as the >undersea vegetation of the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the >Indian Ocean and the frigid Antarctic Ocean, respectively. Each of the >aquariums has viewing galleries at different levels, so that visitors >can see underwater as well as coastal habitats. >Though it has been criticised by scientists for grouping together >species that would probably never meet in nature, the Lisbon >Oceanarium is enormously educative and is a huge tourist attraction. >Since it opened its doors a decade ago, it has been visited by over 10 >million people. Oceanariums attract mainly families, with children, as >well as young people interested in science and environment. That is >precisely the kind of tourists that Goa needs. > > > > > >-- >-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. >Miguel Braganza, S1 Gracinda Apts, >Rajvaddo, Mhapsa 403507 Goa >Ph 9822982676 [EMAIL PROTECTED] >-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. > Jerry Fernandes Riyadh KSA Tel 00966568728399
