Wahab announces restoration of historical Clifton aquarium

After numerous failed promises in the past, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) announced on Friday once again that it would restore the historical Fish Aquarium in Clifton.

The aquarium was constructed in 1953 and later in 1965, a bigger building was constructed to attract a larger number of visitors.

For decades, the aquarium remained one of the big revenue generation sources for the city government. However, the lack of maintenance and dilapidated structure led to its closure in 1998.

Since then, the KMC made several attempts to reopen it and allocated budgets thrice for it in the Annual Development Programmes (ADP) of 2007-2008, 2008-2009 and 2009-2010, but nothing came out of those allocations.

The corporation also approved a sum of Rs100 million that was supposed to be spent on the aquarium in 2012 when it decided to construct an underwater transparent tunnel inside the aquarium to allow visitors to walk through the water tank and enjoy marine life up close. That project also never saw the light of day. Recently, the provincial government announced that the aquarium would be restored under the World Bank’s Competitive & Livable City of Karachi Project (CLICK) worth $240 million.

Addressing on Friday the groundbreaking ceremony for the restoration of the Fish Aquarium at the Bagh Ibne Qasim, KMC Administrator Barrister Murtaza Wahab said the municipality was introducing a new approach in which the participation of citizens was essential.

“The aquarium was closed 25 years ago. With the help of CLICK, this aquarium will be restored and opened to the public in the next six months at a cost of Rs800 million,” he announced. He explained that the aquarium was part of the Bagh Ibne Qasim’s 130 acres.

During the construction of the Bagh Ibn-e-Qasim, the aquarium was reportedly damaged. The aquarium’s sea reservoirs, filter bed, bellowing room and fish breeding room are no longer functional. Its covered area is 1,500 square feet and the abandoned building currently wears a gloomy look, almost appearing haunted.

Wahab said that those who visited the aquarium in their childhood still remembered the tour of the fish house but with the passage of time, the aquarium could not survive and the citizens of Karachi were deprived of the recreational facility.

He claimed that the procurement process for the restoration of the aquarium had been completed. "The Fish Aquarium will provide an opportunity for students and researchers to get a closer look at marine life and provide another excellent recreational and informational facility to the citizens near the beach," the KMC administrator said.

He added that tree plantation would be carried out to make the Bagh Ibn Qasim greener. There would also be new high-quality restaurants and washrooms for the citizens, he said. The Kidney Hill Park was another example of the development of Karachi’s recreational spots, Wahab remarked. "We hope that the private sector will support us for the betterment of the city, the province and the country. I have always said that this is my city, my province and my country," he said.

The federal government was not aware of the plight of the people crushed by inflation, he said, adding that if a government was aware of the ground realities, the current crisis could be overcome. He lamented that the Sindh's share of Rs32 billion in the NFC award had been reduced and termed it a blatant violation of the constitutional rights and principles.

He asked the federal finance minister to take immediate notice of it and give Sindh its due share in the NFC so that the salaries of the government employees could be released and development work continued without any hindrance.

Earlier addressing the function, KMC Metropolitan Commissioner Syed Afzal Zaidi said the city should have a number of such aquariums for the general public to learn about marine life. “We are trying to reopen all the public places in the city. We will do everything with the help of civil society," he said.