Tenders floated for dugong conservation centre at Manora in Thanjavur
The project has to be completed within a period of 24 months. The tender was released on August 8, 2025 and the last date for submitting the bids is August 22, 2025 and on the same day the bids are to be opened.
The project is to be implemented as part of the 'Tamil Nadu: Strengthening Coastal Resilience and the Economy Project (TN-SHORE)' and to be implemented with a loan from International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).
According to the bid documents, there will be a large main building shaped like a dugong, with two floors, which will have a digital immersive projection space, an aquarium, seagrass ecology research lab and a dugong research lab.
A separate building for housing a Marine Museum will come up in the centre premises. The project includes construction of a staff quarters, a detention pond, a souvenir shop among other facilities.
According to forest department officials, the centre will take up advocacy, education and capacity building activities to raise awareness about the importance of dugong conservation, promoting sustainable practices, and mobilizing global support for the protection of these charismatic marine mammals. It might be noted that the government of Tamil Nadu notified the area coming under Palk Bay as a 'Dugong Conservation Reserve' in 2022.
The reserve covers the coastal water of Thanjavur and Pudukkottai districts with an area of 448 sqkm. According to estimates by experts, there are more than 200 dugongs in the Palk Bay. Dugongs are endangered mammals protected under the wildlife act.
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