Odisha’s 2nd planetarium at Burla soon

After Bhubaneswar, second planetarium in Odisha is set to come up in Burla town. Work on the state’s second planetarium at Burla will begin in August, said minister of state for science and technology Ramesh Chandra Majhi. The government has already acquired five acre on the Jyoti Vihar Road for the Rs 12-crore project.

Although the second planetarium and a science park were supposed to be developed in Sambalpur town, in the absence of the required space, the projects have been shifted to Burla.

The minister said the project will be taken up in two phases. The boundary wall at the site will be constructed first and subsequently work on the main building will begin. “The government has finalized the tender for construction of the boundary wall. We expect the work to begin in the second week of August,” said additional secretary, science and technology department, William Bilung.

He said the entire project work will be executed through Orissa Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO).

Bilung, who is also the director of Pathani Samanta Planetarium in the city, said Rs 36 lakh will be spent on construction of the boundary work. A separate tender will be floated for the main building and it will be finalized by October, he said, adding, the building plan is awaiting the administrative nod.

Official sources said the planetarium will be built over two acres of land. The science park would come up on the rest three acres. The proposed planetarium will be fully digital and IDCO will execute the structural work. A Kolkata-based firm has been roped in for preparing the architectural design.