Clifton Fish Aquarium awaits reconstruction
The Clifton Aquarium was built in 1960, but was closed in 2005 for renovations. PHOTO: FILE
Despite the involvement of the Competitive and Livable City of Karachi (CLICK) in the reconstruction of the Clifton Fish Aquarium since the past year, an on-site assessment of the facility reports an aggravated degree of dilapidation.
Dysfunctional for more than two decades, 24 years to be exact, the Clifton Fish Aquarium had been a popular recreational site among families, who frequented the facility in droves each year to observe a wide variety of sea creatures.
Not only did the aquarium provide a source of entertainment to the citizenry, but it also generated much needed revenue for the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) through ticket sales. However, in 1998, fortune took a turn, and the building’s structure began to wither away due to constant exposure to moisture from the sea located nearby.
Fearing further demolition, the local government decided to permanently close the facility, relocating the aquatic animals to the Karachi Zoo and the ocean. While the initial plan was to reopen the facility soon after upgradation, the aquarium remains inoperational till date.
Even though multiple failed attempts have been made at reconstructing the facility, hope was renewed in February of 2022, when the World Bank offered its support for a rebuild through project CLICK. However, much to the dismay of KMC, the aquarium remains in its dire straits to date.
“The workers from CLICK had started work on the roof of the aquarium only to abandon it midway. Now a massive crater exists at the rooftop of the building,” informed a source from the KMC, who further added that officials from CLICK had guaranteed that the aquarium would be fully functional in a time duration of six months.
In order to confirm the veracity of the claims made by KMC, The Express Tribune reached out to the Project Director of CLICK, Asif Jan Siddiqi, who informed that CLICK was only obliged to provide funds for projects initiated by the local government. “The completion of on-ground reconstruction work is the responsibility of the KMC not CLICK,” asserted Siddiqi.
Seeking the other side of the story, The Express Tribune made several attempts to contact the Director General of the Engineering Department at KMC but was unsuccessful.
While on the outside such blame game might appear to solely exist between the KMC and CLICK, the existence of a similar dynamic between governments tasked with overlooking the aquarium, is what has partly contributed to the unexplained delay in its reconstruction and reopening.
According to sources privy to the information, the project of reconstruction of the Clifton Fish Aquarium had been initiated by two different governments in the past, neither of whom bothered ensuring its completion. Consequently, the rebuild which was started in 2006, was officially discontinued in 2009.
“While other projects like Bagh-e-Ibn-e-Qasim were ready in two years, the Clifton Fish Aquarium only had its outer body ready, with basic interior structures, including electrical and filtration networks, missing,” informed an official of the KMC, under the condition of anonymity.
When approached by The Express Tribune on the matter of reconstruction and possible reopening of the Clifton Fish Aquarium, a Spokesperson for the KMC maintained, “the timely completion of the Clifton Fish Aquarium is high on the priority list of the KMC and necessary work on the project will commence soon.”
Published in The Express Tribune, April 21st, 2023.