In a move that would boost marine tourism in the state, Tamil Nadu would soon have a world class marine aquarium at Mamallapuram near here, which would house acrylic glass tunnels among other features.
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has ordered for establishing the aquarium by Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation with technical support from the Fisheries Department through a public-private partnership at a cost of Rs 250 crore, an official release said.
The aquarium would offer visitors a view into the marine world in real under sea ambience and would have dolphins, sharks, seals, sea grass, coral reef and other ornamental fishes in its collection, it said.
"The aquarium would be established in such a way that visitors would be able to observe marine fauna over the roof through acrylic glass tunnels," it said.
The 15-acre campus would also house halls with fish tanks, restrooms, canteen, artificial water bodies, musical fountains, open air theatre, research laboratory among others, it said.
Tamil Nadu Urban Development Fund would select a firm which would prepare a detailed project report, for which a sum of Rs 2.50 crore has been allocated, it said.
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 the Indian Ocean, where rich marine flora and fauna are recorded.
