Srinagar to soon have big aquarium on Dal Lake banks

Srinagar Mar 12 (UNI) Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to build a big aquarium, which will house about 200 species of ornamental fish on the banks of world famous Dal Lake.

This will be an added attraction for tourists visiting the lake area, where more than a dozen Mughal gardens already exists for centuries on its banks and Asia's biggest Tulip Garden will be ready in the first week of next month.

Approving the project for construction of a big aquarium which will be located on the banks of the lake and at the foot of Shankaracharya hill at Gagribal, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad asked the concerned officials to go ahead with the project.

The aquarium will have a 200 meter long tunnel with aqua caves and house about 200 species of ornamental fish.

It will be a centrally heated building to withstand extreme low temperature during winter.

The aquarium will be second in the state after the Bagh-i-Bahu aquarium in Jammu that draws thousands of enthusiastic visitors daily.

At present, there is a small aquarium and awareness centre at Gagribal which will be extended and developed into a major aquarium.

Mr Azad also visited Tulip Garden at Cheshmashahi.

The garden, Asia's biggest, will be in full bloom by the first week of April Mr Azad asked the officials of floriculture department to explore possibilities of converting the vast expanse of plant introduction centre at the foot of the Tulip Garden into a summer garden.

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