Science city to set up new galleries

Chandigarh, Jan 13 (PTI) People may soon be able toget a feel of low gravity environment similar to the one in aspaceship or on the moon if a proposal on showcasingfuturistic technologies at Science City gets the Centre''s nod.

Science City, a joint project of the Centre and Punjabgovernment, will soon submit a proposal for setting up newgalleries displaying emerging areas of science and technologylike nano technology, genetic engineering, cybernetics and manmachine interface.

"We will be submitting a project proposal to theCentre for the second phase of development with an estimatedexpenditure of Rs 30 crore in line with the vision of a groupof scientists led by Saroj Ghosh, former Director General ofNational Council of Science Museums," Pushpa Gujral ScienceCity, Director General, R S Khandpur told reporters heretoday.

"The main attraction of the new projects will be lowgravity environment, 5 D theatre, simulation of big bangtheory and robotic applications in the field of medicine," hesaid.

Spread over 72 acres of land and located on Jalandhar-Kapurthala road in Punjab, Northern India''s first Science Citywas opened to public in March 2005 with an objective ofinculcating scientific aptitude and temperament among youth.

Since its inception, close to Rs 100 crore have beenspent on Science City, the fourth such project in the country,which has facilities like flight and earthquake simulators,planetarium, virtual reality dome theatre, energy park andnight sky watching among others.

Over 18 lakh visitors have come to the facility tillnow. Science City has seen the highest ever number of visitorsat 3.5 lakh from April till December 2010 compared to 2.45lakh in the corresponding period in the previous year.

"About 70-75 per cent of visitors are students ofschools and colleges from the northern region includingPunjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi," Khandpur said.

Science City will also set up new galleries on theissue of climate change and to explain the role of science ina variety of sports like cricket, badminton, tennis andfootball.

Railway ministry will also set up a gallery showcasingmodels of Japanese bullet train, Delhi Metro and others at acost of Rs 90 lakh.