Udaipur: Home minister Gulab Chand Kataria inaugurated the state’s first hi-tech Virtual Fish Aquarium at Fateh Sagar Paal here on Saturday. The Rs 5 crore project is speculated to be a major tourist attraction and also will help facilitate research works in limnology.

In the first phase, at the newly constructed 125-meter long gallery, 156 varieties of both fresh water and sea-Fish procured from 16 countries have been showcased in specially built tanks. The visitors would get a feel of being inside an ocean and can have a close look at the carp species.

Meanwhile, animal lovers and activists staged a mass protest outside the aqua gallery and carried out a signature campaign calling for closure of the project. “No aquarium in the world has succeeded so far in replicating the natural environment and eco-system for the aquatic life. Even the biggest and most well-maintained aquariums can’t compare to large natural water bodies like oceans and rivers,” said Ashutosh Nirvadyaachari of the Begans in Udaipur group. “Marine fish are cruelly hunted from the wild and carelessly transported. About 70% to 90% of these die before they reach any aquarium. Fish are very sensitive creatures and they are not meant for entertainment,” claimed Chetan Padaliya, another activist.

Campaigners protested outside the gallery and handed a memorandum signed by more than 2,500 people demanding closure of the project. The activists said establishing a public aquarium in a peace-loving, non-violent society like Udaipur is inhumane and that in a technologically advanced modern age, there is no need to domesticate fishes even in the name of research and education.

Fish get stunned and are shocked from artificial lights, sounds and visitors, unnatural temperatures, pressures, feed and water and thus do not survive for long, they claimed.