Mumbai's first fish park to open in Borivli

The city's first 'fish park' is set to be thrown open to the public soon in Borivli. Spread across 10,000 sq ft (900 sqmts), the plot in IC Colony Borivali will be inaugurated by Snehal Ambekar, Mayor of Mumbai on December 12 in presence of Pralhad Wamanrao Pai — life trustee Jeevan Vidya Mission. The fish park has a custom-made entrance and eight big tanks with a capacity of 460 litres water, with each housing 25 to 30 tropical fish, with each tank having a different theme. The park is aimed at providing a relaxing experience for visitors as they observe fish swimming and swirling in water, said Vikas Nikam who designed the fish park. "Since it was conceptualised by Abhishek Ghosalkar who is from the Shiv Sena, we have designed two tanks on the party's theme with a fort in one tank and the party's logo in another tank. Other tanks have different themes like marine and greenery, said Nikam.

Abhishek Ghosalkar, Shiv Sena corporator had submitted the proposal to the BMC. The proposal was approved and Ghosalkar budgeted the fish park at Rs 25 lakh. "All parents cannot take their children to an aquarium. I wanted to create such a park for the public. The park will be maintained by an NGO without charging a single rupee from the BMC for the first year. Later we will request the civic authorities to take over the park," said Ghosalkar, adding that visitors will be able to see different varieties of fish like cichlids, angel fishes, tetra, gold fishes, parrot fish group fish, gurami fish and koi fishes.

Ghosalkar said that there is also a selfie point in the park which will be a favourite among children. "Shell-shaped selfie point has been created where a family of five can get selfies clicked. Apart from this, a waterfall and massive pond with colourful fish is also part of the park. An entire boundary with wall graffiti secured with barb wires is also in place," he said.