Revival of cosmic shows on the cards

Warangal: The district is abuzz with some activities that suggest that authorities are taking keen interest in the revival of Prataparudra Planetarium that became defunct in 2011. The planetarium, which was started in 1984, disseminated knowledge about astronomy besides developing scientific temper among the people, especially the children, before it was shut down due to repairs. Since then the authorities failed to revive the planetarium which is located on the premises of Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation.

The planetarium was a gift from the Hinduja Foundation and the man who motivated it was former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao, who then was the Minister for External Affairs.

The Hindujas not only gifted the German-made dumbbell-shaped motor-driven axes Zeiss Skymaster ZKP-2 to the municipal authorities but also provided funds for its construction.

Up and till 2011, the second generation of the small-dome planetariums was abuzz with students and science enthusiasts. The planetarium had also become a tourist spot for those visiting the historical sites in Warangal.

Then it was the only facility in the in the combined Andhra Pradesh. It may be mentioned here that the famous BM Birla Planetarium in Hyderabad was established after the Warangal's. The cost of the machinery in those days was said to be around Rs 40 lakh.

The 80-seater planetarium used to organise as many as 10 shows (each 40 minutes) a day during the holidays. Finally, the projector had gone defunct and since then there was no effort from the authorities to revive it.

Against this backdrop, Warangal-based Ventois Software Solutions on Friday came forward with a proposal, christened as Cosmos Space Theatre to revive with an estimated cost of Rs 5.20 crore. A team led by the chief information officer of the Ventois explained about their proposal to the Warangal Urban District Collector Prashanth Jeevan Patil through power point presentation.

However, the Collector didn't oblige to the proposal, citing that the terms and conditions put by the Ventois. The company wanted to invest and run the planetarium for about 29 years.

Rejecting the Ventois' proposal, Patil who is keen to revive the cosmic shows told the authorities to prepare an action plan to come up with proposals that cost minimum.