The country’s first 3D Planetarium with an 18-metre diameter projection dome which is in the final stages of completion at the Dr. K. Shivaram Karanth Pilikula Nisargadhama here will be inaugurated by the end of January next by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Disclosing this to presspersons after review of work at Pilikula on Thursday, Minister for Science and Technology M.R. Seetharam said that the government has so far spent ₹ 35.6 crore for the project and another ₹ 60 lakh is required for completing work. Mr. Siddaramaiah was generous enough to get the state-of-the-art project as proposed by Mangaluru South MLA J.R. Lobo, the Minister said.
With the 3D Planetarium, Mangaluru will stand among Singapore, Shanghai, Hamburg, Bristol that have a similar facility, Mr. Seetharam said. The planetarium dome would be done with nano-seam projection panels, he added.
Nano-seam projection
Mr. Lobo said that the nano-seam projection system of Spitz Inc. would make every panel flush with its neighbours instead of overlapping panels on the top of the other. Thus, every inch of the projection surface is completely uniform, he said. He said that technical experts suggested to opt for Opto Mechanical and 3D digital hybrid system and the government supported it.
The Minister said that nano-seam fabrication work is likely to be completed by this month-end after which Opto Mechanical system that has come from Japan and Active 3D 8K digital projection system that has come from the U.S. would be installed in January next. A temporary gallery on astronomy and space science too would be established in the 5,200 sq ft building, which would be made permanent in the coming days. The gallery would feature regular developments in those fields.
Approach road
Mr. Lobo said that the Coastal Development Authority would build a four-lane approach road to Pilikula from Vamanjoor Junction (NH 169) at a cost of around ₹ 5 crore, the foundation stone for which Mr. Seetharam laid on Thursday. Inner roads in the Nisargadhama would be improved at a cost of ₹ 2 crore. In a nutshell, Pilikula should be the most sought-after tourist and educational destination in the country, he added.
The MLA also said that successive Deputy Commissioners of the district as the head of Nisargadhama’s governing body had supported every development activity. Deputy Commissioner S. Sasikanth Senthil has helped in solving the acoustic issue in the planetarium, he said.
