Priyadarsini Planetarium here is in the process of acquiring
additional land for the proposed regional science centre in Kasaragod
as the existing land cannot meet the water requirement.The proposed
centre requires nearly 15,000 litres of water a day. But the land in
Kumbazha is 'too dry' to meet the requirement.Kasaragod is one of the
two locations of the regional science centres to be started by the
city-based museum, the other being Ambalapuzha in Alappuzha district.
"Officials of the Groundwater Department who inspected the site at
Kumbazha have informed us that the land there will not be able to
yield the quantity of water required for the functioning of the
centre," said G. Arul Jerald Prakash, Director in-charge of the museum
and planetarium."We have now contacted the local MLA and have urged
him to procure additional land, at least two cents, near the existing
plot to address the water shortage," Mr. Prakash said. The additional
land, nearly 50 metres away from the main plot, also belongs to the
district panchayat. The panchayat has to pass a resolution for the
allotment, he said.The proposed science centres, which will act as
miniature replicas of the city-based museum, will be complete with the
crowd-pulling observational telescope and planetarium. The highlight
of the centres, expected to cost Rs.9 crore each, will be an 11-inch
computerised GPS (Global Positioning System) telescope that can be
used to gaze at stars and other celestial objects. "The telescope once
aligned will automatically hunt for the planet or star you wish to
locate," Mr. Prakash said.Yet another attraction will be a mobile
planetarium that can be carried about in an airbag. The igloo-shaped
inflatable planetarium is around 10 ft in height and 20 ft in
diameter. Visitors will have to crawl into this planetarium.Some of
the other features of centres will be a science park for children,
clubs and an EDUSAT-based interactive terminal that will enable
students to talk to teachers sitting in New Delhi and clarify their
science-related queries."Once we have the basic infrastructure in
place, which includes the popular telescope and planetarium, we hope
to open it to the public by next year," Mr. Prakash said.The
constitution of district-level science centres with the objective of
inculcating a scientific temper in the minds of the rural population
has been one of the stated objectives of the memorandum of
association, a government charter, framed during the setting up of the
Thiruvananthapuram museum in 1984. "The Union government provides
financial assistance to start two regional centres at the district
level." A copy of the proposed project was handed over to Union
Minister for Tourism and Culture Ambika Soni by Education and Culture
Minister M.A. Baby last year.
The Hindu, 12th January 2009
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