GUWAHATI, July 12 � Even as the Jorhat Science Centre-cum-Planetarium formally started its shows from yesterday, work on the planetariums in Kokrajhar and North Lakhimpur are at an advanced stage and the State government has started work for the planetarium at Nalbari.
HC Dutta, Director of the Assam Science Technology and Environment Council (ASTEC), told The Assam Tribune that almost 80 per cent of the work on Kokrajhar planetarium is over. �In North Lakhimpur, we have completed 60 per cent of the work, while the project for construction of the Nalbari planetarium was started in March this year,� he said.
The Kokrajhar Planetarium, with a dome size of 10 meters, will have a seating capacity of over 100. It will be a digital planetarium and a science exhibition gallery would come up once work on the main planetarium is over.
Once completed, the Kokrajhar planetarium would be managed by the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). The Department of Science and Technology and ASTEC will provide training to the staff.
The State PWD is constructing the three planetariums which are being wholly funded by the State government. The government will invest Rs 7.92 crore for the Kokrajhar Planetarium (the land being granted by BTC), and Rs 5 crore each for the ones in North Lakhimpur and Nalbari.
A senior scientist involved with the projects said that the Kokrajhar Planetarium is expected to be operational by March next year, while the Nalbari and North Lakhimpur planetariums are likely to be on stream by end of 2014.
�The projects in North Lakhimpur and Nalbari are for science centre-cum-planetarium,� he said.