CUTTACK: The State Maritime Museum will soon get a musical fountain on its premises, as part of a larger plan for the expansion of the existing aquarium Officials said the musical fountain will be constructed near the entrance gate. It will be fitted with state-of-the-art light arrangements.A plot measuring 35 feet by 21 feet has been identified inside the museum premises where an aquarium will be set up. The unique under-the-floor aquarium will offer visitors a view inside through its transparent ceiling. Talks are on with a Malaysia-based company to construct the first-of-its-kind aquarium in the country.Officials are busy in chalking out a detailed project report for both the projects. After completion, the report will be sent to the state government for allocation of funds. In the recent board meeting of the museum, measures which could be adopted to make the museum more popular with tourists were discussed at length."An under-the-floor aquarium is a novel concept in the state and will definitely add more colour to the museum. We will finalised the requirements in the next few weeks," said Panchanan Nayak , aquarium-in-charge of the museum.The existing aquarium in the museum premises was inaugurated in 2014. Recently, 57 more varieties of fish have been added to the 90 varieties of aquatic species. The chief highlight is the Fire Goby species of fish which has been procured from Poland.The price of a single Fire Goby fish is Rs 18,000. "No other aquarium in the country has the variety of fish," said Nayak.The Maritime Museum was inaugurated in 2013 and has now turned into one of the most popular hangouts in the city. Museum records reveal that no fewer than four lakh tourists visit the museum annually.

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