Asia's first artificial Sea World to come up in Konkan

 


Now, here's a distinction that would see Maharashtra set apart from the other states. The state government on Tuesday announced its plan to set up Asia's first ever artificial Sea World in Konkan by next year. The Sea World will have an artificial sea that will represent the marine life.
"We have asked for a feasibility report for the Sea World. The report will be out in the next six months, following which the actual project work will start in another six months," state tourism minister Vijaykumar Gavit said in the legislative council.
Gavit was replying to a calling attention motion raised by Shiv Sena's Parshuram Uparkar over the proposed Sea World in Konkan.
"The project will be set up on a 150-acre land at the cost of Rs150 crore. Once we receive the feasibility report, we will ask for funds from the Centre to implement the project. If the Centre denies funds, we will complete the project through a public-private partnership within two years," said Gavit. He added that once the project was complete, 10 lakh tourists are expected to visit it. Gavit also announced that they had plans to recruit locals for the project work.
The feasibility report is being prepared by the Pune-based Science and Technology Park and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) have been signed for the same with the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC). The report, which is expected to cost the government Rs27.83 lakh, will be recommending the project location in Konkan. According to sources, the Sea World may come up at either Raigad, Ratnagiri or Sindhudurg.