VISAKHAPATNAM: The City of Destiny will have a planetarium-cum-astrophysics science centre and it will be one of its kind in the country. “Visitors can enjoy the virtual experience in a spaceship model with zero gravity and they can feel like astronauts. It took almost one-and-a-half years to bring the planetarium project proposal into shape,’’ Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA) Commissioner P Koteswara Rao told TNIE.
Tenders for the project will be invited within a week and the Rs 90 crore planetarium is expected to be ready atop Kailasagiri in seven acres by 2023. Creative Museum Designers, a GoI enterprise based in Kolkata, prepared the DPR. “The project design was prepared by an expert committee after collating project reports of several planetariums across the world. The design was further vetted by IIT Bombay, which finalised the project design two days ago,’’ he said.
The project, which is envisaged on black hole concept, will have a museum with exhibits on astrophysics. There will be an 18 m nano seam dome with hybrid projection and a 3D digital projector. The planetarium will have a seating capacity of 200.
Rs 90 crore planetarium atop Kailasagiri expected to be ready by 2023: VMRDA
“We have visited the latest full dome planetarium at Pilikula, Mangalore, planetarium at Science City, NCSM and Birla Planetarium at Kolkata before deciding the project concept,” he added.
Natural history park
Koteswara Rao said the other VMRDA project is the natural history park, museum and research institute, which will come up in 15 acres at Kapuluppada. The project cost has been estimated at Rs 90 crore and of which the Centre’s share is Rs 38 crore and the VMRDA will bear the remaining cost. All approvals have been received from the Centre for the project,” he said.
The DPR is being prepared and they have already started collecting fossils for the park. There will be a biodiversity park where exotic plants from six continents will be on display. They are contemplating recreating weather conditions of the respective countries for sustaining the exotic plants at the park.
“We will recreate the Amazon environment for flora and fauna procured from Amazon and ensure similar environment for other plant species procured from other continents. Bio domes will be set up for creating different ecosystems. The project is, however, in initial stages compared to the planetarium,’’ he said.
The twin projects will help boost scientific temperament among students. Both the planetarium and the natural history park will become the most favourite places for youth and elders alike, Koteswara Rao said, exuding confidence that the Vizag planetarium will be one of the best in the world.
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The project design was prepared by an expert committee after collating project reports of several best planetariums across the world. The design was further vetted by IIT Bombay, which finalised the project design two days ago
P Koteswara Rao, VMRDA Commissioner