Passengers can now soothe their eyes and spend their waiting hours enjoying a visual spectacle at the new distinctive aquatic park of Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Railway Station in Bengaluru. The Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Limited (IRSDCL) has installed its first-ever movable freshwater 12-feet long tunnel aquarium in Bengaluru.
In collaboration with Canada’s Aquatic Kingdom, the railways have opened the aquatic park on July 1 in the general public’s interest. While talking to NDTV, Niyaz Ahmed Qureshi of HNI Aquatic Kingdom elucidated that the project had begun in November 2020. The living exhibits have gone a long way to this aquarium.
Passengers boarding a train from the KSR railway station can now see 120 types of fish, most of which have been brought outside the country at a Rs 25 entrance fee, as set by the IRSDCL.
Built on the concept of the Amazon River, the IRSDCL has spent Rs 1.2 crore to enhance the passengers’ experience at the station.
“Inspired by the Amazon River Forest, we have used the concept of a marine aquarium which is saltwater, and then freshwater,” Mr Qureshi was quoted as saying. “Behind, you can see a planted segment and a tunnel aquarium.”
The Railways wanted to take an attempt to change people’s concept around railway stations. Therefore, they saw a video about this concept on YouTube and contacted the premier aquarium store in Mississauga and Toronto, Canada, to check if their required aquarium could be built in a railway station.
“We had a vacant and perfect space to install such an aquatic park to please people and children while they are waiting for a train,” stated Saurabh Jain, Nodal Officer, IRSDCL. “It is certainly an attraction for outsiders as well. It should be a destination itself.”
The 12-foot-long Aquatic Kingdom also offers an educational joyride as the railways have included a lifesize fish kingdom. It also has a 3D selfie zone, where a big fish pops out of the aquarium so a visitor can take a photo along with it.
