Bhubaneswar: Good news for science and planetarium enthusiasts. The state government has allowed the Pathani Samanta Planetarium in Bhubaneswar, APJ Abdul Kalam Planetarium in Burla and Pathani Samanta Planetarium of Khandapada in Nayagarh district to open for the public from February 2, in compliance with Covid-19 guidelines.
Director of Pathani Samanta Planetarium Laxmidhar Das said that the planetariums are directed to open for people on all the week days except for Monday and not more than 50 people would be allowed to watch the shows.
The state government, in March last year, had declared Covid-19 as a state disaster and closed all the planetariums of the state for public.
Since then the planetarium had been hosting virtual shows. It even celebrated its 31st Foundation Day January 8 through virtual tour which was inaugurated by state Science & Technology department principal secretary Santosh Kumar Sarangi.
Subhendu Pattnaik, deputy director of Pathani Samanta Planetarium, said that arrangements were made for live streaming of all the science shows and programme on social media like YouTube and Facebook Live for the science enthusiasts and students.
Earlier, the state government had allowed Nandankanan Zoological Park to open in October and cinema halls in the state from January 1 with up to 50 per cent capacity after a gap of almost nine months.
