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Science park with planetarium coming up

Staff Reporter

BDA holds meeting on the project

Photo: Lingaraj Panda

PLANNING BIG: Sadananda Tarasia (right), former director of Pathani Samanta Planetarium, speaking at the BDA meeting in Berhampur on Thursday as BDA Chairman S. R. Patnaik (left) and ADM, Ganjam Sangram Keshari Ray look on.

BERHAMPUR: The Berhampur Development Authority (BDA) is going to establish a science park with a planetarium.

This science park is being planned to be established on a land of over 15 acres in between Berhampur and Gopalpur. BDA Chairman Saratranjan Patnaik said this project would increase the tourism potential of Gopalpur beach resort along with helping in sustaining the scientific temperament of young as well as the old of the area.

On Thursday, the BDA convened a meeting of senior citizens involved in scientific and technical professions as well as senior academicians to chalk out the plan of the project at the BDA conference hall. After the meeting the team also visited the proposed sites of the project to finalize the spot for the project.

The meeting, chaired by the BDA Chairman, was also attended by Sadanand Tarasia, the former director of Samant Chandrasekhar Planetarium in Bhubaneswar.

Mr. Tarasia described the project by the BDA as a needful one as no such project exists in south Orissa.

"Young students are not getting a chance to see the practicality of scientific theories that they read in their text books, which this project will fulfil," he said.

Initial plan

As per the initial plans, the science park will touch every branch of science, including astronomy and marine science. The marine science department of Berhampur University will also provide help for the establishment of a marine museum at the complex. The professor of marine science of Berhampur University and the PG council chairman of Berhampur university, B.K. Sahu, promised all assistance for the establishment of one of its kind marine museum.

Mr. Patnaik said this science park was being planned on the lines of the B.M. Birla Science centre in Hyderabad. Role models and games depicting scientific theories in an entertaining way and models of prehistoric animals as well as museum on life science would attract children. "An energy park putting stress on energy crisis that our world is facing and the remedial measures through use of renewable source of energy would be integral part of this science park," Mr Patnaik said. The planetarium would be the major attraction of this project as people of south Orissa now have to visit Bhubaneswar to enjoy the planetarium.

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