Karachi’s only aquarium to be reopened after 18 years

Clifton Aquarium to be opened and operated by KMC next year.

KARACHI:

Kishwar Khawar remembers how every Friday in the mid-1980s she visited the city's only aquarium near Abdullah Shah Ghazi's shrine along with her family. Her favourite pastime was following the small orange fish and poking at the glass to get their attention.

Sadly, the aquarium was closed down due to lack of maintenance in 1998. Eighteen years later, Khawar now wants her children to enjoy the same facility she enjoyed in her childhood but the government seems apathetic towards the dismal state of recreational spots in Karachi.



The Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) has now promised to reopen it by next year.

The aquarium was constructed in 1953 and later, in 1965, a complete building was constructed to attract a larger number of visitors. The aquarium became one of the main revenue generation sources for the city government at the time.

After the aquarium was closed down due to the dilapidated condition of its building, several attempts have been made to reopen it by the KMC with budgets allocated for it thrice — in 2007-2008, 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 — in KMC's Annual Development Programmes (ADP) but the facility failed to become functional.

KMC also approved a sum of Rs100 million to be used for the aquarium in 2012. In the same year, KMC decided to construct an underwater tunnel inside the Clifton Aquarium to allow visitors to walk through the water tank and enjoy marine life up close, which also never saw the light of day.

Present condition

The aquarium's building is currently inside the premises of Bagh Ibne Qasim, the construction of which reportedly damaged the aquarium components, such as its sea reservoirs, filter bed, bellowing room and fish breeding room.

The covered area of the aquarium, according to KMC's director-general of parks and horticulture, Asadullah Shah, is 1,500 square-feet. Currently, the abandoned building paints a gloomy picture, almost appearing haunted.





When The Express Tribune visited the aquarium, iron rods were protruding from the roof and the building's ledges were dilapidated. The wooden gate, which was also in a state of utter disrepair, was locked and iron grills attached with the windows were rusted. A broken wooden ladder lying just at the entrance of the aquarium's building showed that once upon a time the authorities tried to reopen the building but failed to do so. Perplexingly, a small wooden boat lies behind the building, gathering dust.

According to one of the security guards, they have tied clothes to the windows where there are no grills in order to prevent drug addicts from seeking refuge within the building — something which has happened in the past.



KMC's future plans

Once again the municipality has rolled up its sleeves to reconstruct the only aquarium facility of the city, despite several failed attempts. Shah explained to The Express Tribune that in KMC's next ADP they have decided to allocate Rs150 million to reopen the aquarium.

He said that due to lack of funds, the construction was halted in 2009. "Funding has been restored and, by next year, the facility will be opened for the public," he assured, adding that their aquarium would house 600 different species of fish.

"KMC is in a position to run the facility on its own," he said, explaining that they are not interested in a public-private partnership. There will be an entry fee for visitors but the amount has yet to be decided.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 9^th, 2016.