Nagpur: The project of opening a museum dedicated to Agricultural Science, fisheries and animal husbandry in the vacant basement of Maharashtra Animal and Fisheries Sciences University, Seminary Hills, has been lagging since over a decade now.While the exact year of submitting the proposal for the museum was unavailable with the director of extension services, the project was approved in 2009. Several changes in administrative posts have been one of the major reasons for the delay in building the museum, said director of extension services Dr Arju Somkuwar.“Before Dr Paturkar, Dr Anup Kumar was appointed as the VC. Being overburdened with work, he only focused on routine matters. Before that, hardly any work was done on the museum front,” he added. 75 per cent of the Rs1 crore sanctioned in the first phase have been used up in creating the infrastructure for the museum.However, present vice-chancellor Dr Ashish Paturkar has taken the project in his hands and has claimed that the museum will be up and going as soon as it is possible. “I conveyed to sir about our inability to complete building the museum in the remaining Rs25lakh. He had assured additional funds for the same,” said Dr Somkuwar. Though a deadline hasn’t been decided yet, a notice will be issued in about 10 days regarding the same, he added.Renovation of the basement has started and Dr Somkuwar is in the stage of procuring related material from MAFSU’s ten colleges in the state. “We are building a museum to cater to students and farmers. Most students are unaware of careers in veterinary field, whereas farmers could benefit from visual models of concepts,” said Dr Somkuwar, adding that models for taxidermy and integrated farming models are ready. “We will also be displaying models of our patented concepts along with traditional objects and techniques,” added Dr Somkuwar.VC Dr Ashish Paturkar said that he has taken the project in his hands and is trying to get the museum completed as soon as possible. Sharing his vision about the museum, he said that it should cater to students and a large number of farmers. “Here, there will be interactive boards, a facility to ask queries and get them solved,” he said.

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