RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, May 26: Ranchi Science Centre, which has been closed since the second wave of the corona pandemic in April 2021, is likely to get opened within a week.
Its executive director Raj Shekhar informed this to Lagatar24.com saying the decision on appointment of an in-charge will be finalized within a day or two and once it happens it will be opened for the public.
As the centre officials are planning to reopen it within a week, people expressed their displeasure taking its long closure.
“Every day over 150 people return from the centre as ‘Just Dial’ suggests the Science Centre is open and timing is 10am to 6pm. Since Ranchi Science Centre does not have any official website people get confused,” a locality resident said.
An official of the Jharkhand Police deputed as bodyguard of an MLA echoed the same saying he had come with his children but got frustrated when found the centre closed.
“I spent time and petrol to reach here but it went in vain. I had never expected its closure in the season of vacation,” he said.
Ranchi Science Centre is the first science centre in the state under Jharkhand Council on Science & Technology (JCST) under the science and technology department. The centre comprises two storied building that houses three permanent thematic galleries of covered area 42,000 square meter on an area of 13 acre land, provided by Government of Jharkhand, at Chiraundi village, in Morabadi near the Tagore Hill adjacent to Ranchi town at a capital cost of Rs. 87.5 crore which has been shared equally by Government of state and union government.
The science centre has been developed by the National Council of Science Museum (NCSM), a wing of the union ministry of culture. The centre was inaugurated by the chief minister Arjun Munda on 29 November 2010.
It has three galleries including Fun Science, How Things Work and Wealth of Jharkhand. In an 8 acre area, there are several interactive exhibits on simple machines, sound, optics, pendulum and static models of prehistoric animals.
Other facilities include 3D projection theater, auditorium, car park, children’s corner, computer hall, conference room, exhibit development laboratory, office, science demonstration corner, science library, store, Taramandal or Inflatable dome portable planetarium and temporary exhibition hall.
Recently the state cabinet has also provided funds for its repairing and maintenance work and National Council of Science Museum (NCSM)completed the work last month.
