February 7, 2006, 11:30 AM, Raypur, India:
Manick Sorcar was invited by the Public Health Engineering Department
of West Bengal, India, to visit the Water Treatment Plant, Raypur,
and do a laser show there. Up on arrival, Manick Sorcar and his
wife Shikha were warmly greeted by Mr. Ashoke Kumar Roy, Executive
Engineer, PHE Directorate of the Govt. of West Bengal. The venue
was the lavish Lecture Room of the Water Treatment Plant facility,
where Manick was introduced by Mr. Roy prior to the show.
In a short speech, Manick Sorcar explained what laser was and
how it has become an important tool in everyday life. "LASER
is the acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emisson of
Radiation. It is a narrow, strong beam of coherent light the application
of which varies from the use eye surgery to drilling through the
thickest layer of steel. In between these two extremes, lies a
region where it can be safely and effectively used for visual
entertainment. In the hands of an artist, the narrow, strong beam
of light morphs into a painting brush, in the hands of a lighting
designer it becomes a new source of illumination, and in the hands
of a magician it is a magic-wand. Its application is limited only
by imagination", he explained.
A 18-minute laser show followed the speech, where the audience
was lifted from their chairs to the magic land of visual entertainment.
Amidst musical background, the laser show included 2D and 3D animations
on screen enhanced by overhead 3D visual effects such as beams,
cones, waves, tunnels etc., which were thrilling and received
thundering applause from the packed audience.
After the show, the Sorcars were taken by Mr. Ashoke Roy for
a personal tour of the meticulously clean and well-maintained
water treatment plant. He took them to the different departments
and laboratories explaining how the various steps were implemented
in turning the millions of gallons water of adjacent Hooghly river
into arsenic-free, pure drinking water that was distributed throughout
the rural areas of the State of West Bengal. As an electrical
engineer himself and as the CEO/president of Sorcar Engineering,
Inc. of USA, Manick was much impressed with the facility and found
the tour highly educational and useful.
Public Health Engineering Department (PHE) was created in 1987.
As per rules of Business of the State Govt., PHE Dept is to undertake
programs of implementation of water supply and sanitation schemes.
Currently however, Rural sanitation is looked after by Panchayet
& Rural Development Dept. and Urban sanitation by MA Dept.
The main activities of PHE Dept is now related to rural water
supply throughout the State and urban water supply outside Kolkata
Metropoliton Area.
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