Nehru Science Centre is one of the biggest, interactive and a live science centre located in the Worli area in the capital city Mumbai of Maharashtra. The center bags the name after India’s first prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru with the foundation stone laid by late Smt. Indira Gandhi and inaugurated on November 11, 1985 by her son late Rajiv Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India in that year.

History

The Nehru Science centre (NSC) was built to enliven the personality and vision of Pandit Shri Jawaharlal Nehru who had a concern for his people and wanted to raise the human living standards. The dream was fructified by his daughter Smt. Indira Gandhi reminding the influence of betterment wished by the first Prime Minister of India on the last three generations and also on the lives of the present generation. The NSC is located on Dr. E. Moses Road between Worli Naka and Mahalaxmi Road on a carpet area of around 8 acres obtained from Maharashtra Government on lease.

The centre is a Headquarter for Western zone and is one of the National Level museums. The building is known for its unique architecture with the historical artifacts and modern science designed and conceptualized in a way to be done. The centre is also known for skilled manpower that fabricates the concepts into reality and makes ‘science’ people friendly by breaking the complex concepts of science into visually understandable elements with more porosity hence increasing the grasping of the subject matter.

Features of Nehru Science Centre

• There are different kinds of activities held from Essay competition, Elocution competition to Quizzes for students every year.
• The Science Workshops are held periodically to explore the creativity and thinking part of students. This aids in giving an inclination to students for science and promotes the R&D in the country on a long term.
• There is a huge, well furnished Auditorium for the use of meetings, gatherings, lectures, symposiums, conferences and cultural activities.
• There are five exhibition halls at the centre for national and international exhibitions.
• There is a huge library at the centre to enrich the knowledge of book cravers. It has a stock of more than 25,000 books and also includes foreign magazines and national periodicals. It has kept itself updated with time and now provides the matter in CD-ROM’s and also gives a Cyber centre for fast browsing of data. The library is also open to general public for the reference purpose.

On Exhibit

The NSC promotes the study of Astronomical events which has been developed in the NSC Planetarium. This has a demo of how things work in space, simulating things which we can just imagine but can not see as a whole. This planetarium is taken to a different level so that the kids and the teachers can connect it with the textbooks.

There are 14 galleries under ‘Discovery of India’ which intends to showcase the history of India. These galleries are divided into different categories like, Science for children, Sound and Hearing, Light and Sight, Prehistoric life, Climate change and so on. It reveals and articulate what the country has been witnessing since ages thus in a way keeping it alive, a mode to preserve the aesthetics of India. For more clarity and understanding, the three dimensional artifacts, audio-visuals, photographs have been used.

There is an Art Gallery at the centre to bring life to the imagination of the potential students who have a different way to look at things. The Gallery has been divided into two parts, one spreading across 2300 Sq. ft and the other circular one giving display space of 125 running feet. There have been vast numbers of exhibitions on graphics, calligraphy, photography, paintings and so on in past few years.

Other Recreations

The NSC has a cultural wing to encourage students from myriad areas and bring them under the same platform. The centre also has a publication wing to create awareness, give recognition and enlighten public on several aspects of different fields. The videocassettes are produced and even a report on various symposiums and seminars are published. It offers package tours for schools and Astronomy/Olympiad program to select students who represent India at International Astronomy Olympiad.