After state capital of Bhubaneswar, second planetarium of Odisha is all set to come up at a cost of Rs 12 crore in Sambalpur shortly. Five acres of land had been selected for the construction of the planetarium near Jyoti Vihar and Hirakud dam at Burla town, about 15 km from here, official sources here said.
The state Government has allocated a sum of Rs five crore for this purpose in first phase. Total rupees 12 crore have been budgeted for the project. This project will consist of a planetarium and a science park. Out of five acre area identified for the purpose, planetarium will be built over two acre and science park on rest area.
“The proposed planetarium will be fully digital. IDCO will execute this structure and architecture design work has been assigned to a Kolkata-based consultant agency”, said a senior official of the science and technology department. A team of officials from the departments of revenue and works visited the proposed planetarium site recently for preliminary steps.