Ahmedabad authorities claim necessary approvals are missing, owner rebuffs claim. The restaurant is sealed indefinitely.
In just a day, the Real Poseidon, has been reduced to a fish out of water. Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has decided to shut down India’s first underwater restaurant, a day after it opened, reportedly due to lack of licences and leakage in the floor to the ceiling-aquarium.
“It has not sought the mandatory development permission under the town planning rules. The seal will remain in place until it seeks the necessary approvals. We will not allow it to operate otherwise,” said Devang Desai, deputy municipal commissioner, AMC.
Real Poseidon seats 32 persons under an 1.50 lakh-litre capacity aquarium built 20-feet below ground level. The multi-cuisine vegetarian restaurant, built at a cost of INR 2 crore-2.5 crore, has about 4,500 fish and marine species on 3,000 sq. ft. property.
Owner Bharat Bhatt earlier claimed that he had taken all necessary permissions from the health department, fire department and the AMC.
However, Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services says no permission has been sought from them. “I am yet to visit the restaurant. We have not given any permission to the restaurant. It needs to have permission from the department for fire in case of emergencies like flooding of water and emergency exits. I learnt about the restaurant from media reports,” said MF Dastur, chief fire officer.
The restaurant that had caught the fancy of Amdavadis had begun operations on Monday but was closed down on Tuesday reportedly due to leaks in the aquarium. However, Bhatt denied there had been any leaks. “There were two issues. There was a problem with the circulation that made the water inside the aquarium sandy making it difficult for the fishes to be seen. Besides, there was an unexpected rush of people and calls for bookings throughout the day.
“There were also other small problems like an exposed air-conditioning wire that was a small eyesore and customers suggested that we conceal it. We are taking care of unfinished work,” said Bhatt.
This is Bhatt’s second restaurant, the earlier one being near Cadila Bridge. “I ran the Setu restaurant but closed it and had begun manufacturing air blowers and magnetic hammers,” he said.
“I got the idea of the restaurant from my son who is just about 12 years old. His friends had been to a similar restaurant in Dubai. I have designed the entire restaurant myself. I had even planned underwater walkways with fishes inside. However, that did not work out,” said Bhatt.