Three new attractions — a fighter aircraft, an energy drum and a magic water tap — which have recently been installed at the North Bengal Science Centre (NBSC), located on the outskirts of Siliguri, are drawing crowds of different age groups at the centre.

Among these exhibits, a HPT-32 “Deepak” aircraft and an energy drum were introduced at the centre on the occasion of National Science Day on February 28 this year. The third is a giant magic water tap that was inaugurated on Monday on the occasion of World Water Day.

According to sources in the science centre, India’s indigenous Hindustan Piston Trainer HPT-32 aircraft is used for initial pilot training and other utility tasks.

Christened as “Deepak”, the aircraft was developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF) to undertake a range of other utility roles like armed patrol, observation, liaison work, supply dropping, recon, target-towing and weapon training and light strike.

The HAL made Deepak first flew in 1981 and it was delivered to the IAF training command in 1984 for formal instructions in basic flying. Notably, many of the top IAF officers have been trained on HPT-32s, which were grounded in 2009.

“The aircraft has been donated for display purposes to this centre by the Indian Air Force,” said a source in the science centre.

The second exhibit energy drum is equally attractive.

Ritabrata Biswas, the project coordinator of the NBSC, said: “Get into the drum and start walking, the drum begins to rotate in the opposite direction you walk. As you walk faster, the speed of the drum increases. The forces of action and reaction in this exhibit are subjects of Newton’s third law of motion.” “The energy produced by the rotation of the drum is used to pump water in a fountain. A new science demonstration lecture (SDL) on light and colour has also been launched on the National Science Day,” he added.

The installation of magic water tap has been made to underscore the importance of freshwater conservation.

“The tap is fitted to a transparent tube through which water is pumped up and it falls down uniformly from the top end of the tube. The tube wall material is transparent…. Hence, the water that is pumped up, is not visible,” said a source.

Biswas also mentioned that the centre that had closed down because of the Covid-induced lockdown and was reopened in November last year is drawing a considerable number of visitors these days.

“These new attractions are drawing a good number of visitors. Since November last year, we have witnessed a footfall of over 90,000 visitors,” he added.