PANAJI
One of the projects Goa is hoping to get funds for in the Rs 3,600 crore 'special grants' it has pitched for with the 16th Finance Commission for the next five years is an Oceanarium, ironically junked some thirty years ago amidst political controversy.
The project, expected to be a boon for the State's tourism sector, is among half a dozen such proposals pushed for in a concrete proposal the State government presented to the Commission on its recent visit last week.
The other projects include a 'ropeway' connecting Mormugao to Tiswadi taluka over the mouth of the Zuari river at Dona Paula, an elaborate water transport system to harness the inland waterways potential, the Convention Centre which the State has been struggling to set up for over two decades and others in the health, power and education sectors.
The 'Oceanarium' project for which the State has sought upwards of Rs 500 crore from the Finance Commission, has been on Goa's development agenda for over three decades. A concrete proposal to build it on land at Miramar between the Goa Science Museum and the Sharada Mandir High School following a MoU the government had inked with a Singaporean firm had got controversially junked amidst political upheavals in the 1990s.
The current proposal, sources in the government said, is to set up the Oceanarium at Quitol where the government owns large tracts of land. World over, these large seawater aquariums are usually built in coastal areas and display marine life and serve multiple purposes including entertainment, educational and scientific research.
The government meanwhile has sought Rs 800 crore for the water transport system under which it hopes to tap the potential of its inland waterways. The proposal envisages use of modern crafts, building multiple jetties with amenities such as waiting lounges and firming up long-term transport routes in both North and South Goa.
