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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