Railway station gets a makeover with aquatic kingdom!

Bengaluru: In Bengaluru’s KSR Railway Station, passengers can now enjoy the sights and sounds of the new and distinctive aquatic park that has been developed by the Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Limited (IRSDCL).

Railways’ first moveable freshwater tunnel aquarium, which has already been opened to the public, was developed in partnership with the HNI Aquatic Kingdom.

‘In an attempt to develop this area, we came up with this concept. This is the first aquatic kingdom in the Indian railways. This has been done at the Bangalore railway station for the first time,’ Niyaz Ahmed Qureshi of HNI Aquatic Kingdom told the media.

Mr. Qureshi said that the project began in November last year and the living exhibits have traveled a long way to this aquarium. ‘At present, we have 120 varieties of fish. Many have been imported from outside the country. The aquarium concept is salt water, followed by freshwater and then an Amazon forest concept at the back, followed by a planted segment and a tunnel aquarium,’ he said.

There will be a Rs 25 entry fee. Mr. Qureshi added, ‘We wanted to reach rural India through railways.’

For the railways, this is an attempt to change the way stations are perceived.

‘We saw this on YouTube and contacted the firm to find out if something like this could be done in a railway station,’ said Saurabh Jain, IRSDC Nodal Officer. ‘It had the perfect synergy. We had a vacant area and people can enjoy it while they wait for trains. Even outsiders will enjoy it. It should not just be a point of departure. It should be a destination in itself.’

At the aquatic kingdom, visitors could be seen enjoying themselves.

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An aquarium visitor Ritu with her children said, ‘This place is near my place so we can spend some time here. We won’t have to travel long distances to see this kind of aquarium.’

Another young visitor commented, ‘It was a nice experience. India’s first initiative of this kind. I enjoyed it..’

The 12-foot-long Aquatic Kingdom will also provide visitors with an educational experience as a lifesize fish kingdom is on display.

As of now, only 25 visitors will be allowed inside the aquarium at a time in accordance with Covid rules and restrictions, said SK Lohia, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, IRSDC, according to reports.

There will be a selfie zone in the Aquatic Kingdom, where a big fish will pop out of the aquarium for a photo.

There is an almost 20-foot glass periphery around the aquarium, which houses planted, marine and tropical sections with a variety of flora and fauna in soothing colors. In addition, it is also home to many aquatic animals, including alligator gars that grow from 2 to 3 feet, stingrays, Eels as long as 6 feet, sharks, lobsters, snails and shrimps. The aquarium is decorated with natural rocks, driftwood and artificial coral rocks, according to the news agency.