The North Bengal Science Centre (NBSC) here at Matigara has reopened after months with new attractions for visitors, and safety measures amid the pandemic such as sensors for interactive exhibits for a touch-free experience.

The centre run by the National Council of Science Museums was closed for visitors since the third week of March, just before the lockdown was clamped across the country. It recently reopened its gates for visitors.

Ritabrata Biswas, the project coordinator of NBSC, said they would soon introduce a digital exhibition on Mahatma Gandhi.

Named “The Father of the Nation: A Digital Tribute,” the exhibition will open for visitors on November 26 as a part of the two-year-long commemoration of Gandhi’s sesquicentennial birth anniversary, Biswas said.

The centre, which opened 23 years ago, will also install HPT-32 Deepak, an aircraft provided by the Indian Air Force, by the end of this month or by December first week for display.

“The aircraft is an Indian prop-driven primary trainer manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). It can accommodate two persons and has been donated to the NBSC by the Indian Air Force for display. Because of the pandemic, we could not install it earlier. We have, however, carried out all basic work for installation and are waiting for final work to be carried out by the IAF team,” said a source at the centre.

As visitors have started entering the centre in ones and twos this month, the authorities have also taken certain measures to ensure health safety protocols are followed on premises.

Among these include the replacement of switches with sensors for interactive exhibits.

“With sensors, all such exhibits would start functioning without the need for visitors to touch any surface. This would largely reduce the risk of transmission of the virus,” said Biswas.

At the centre, open from 10am to 6.30pm, visitors must wear masks, apply sanitiser and get thermal screening at the entrance. “We have installed foot pedal sanitisers at the entrance. All visitors have to undergo thermal screening before entry. The frequency of cleaning the premises and exhibits has increased,” Biswas added.