TIFR scientific research balloons: Don't touch or tamper, Sangli officials tell citizens

The Sangli district administration in Maharashtra has issued a notification advising citizens not to touch balloons containing scientific equipment that are being released by the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Hyderabad in neighbouring Telangana.

The advisory informed 10 balloons with scientific equipment are being launched into space between November 1, 2022 and April 30 next year for research.

It said these are likely to come down along with coloured parachutes in the limits of Aurangabad, Beed, Nanded, Osmanabad, Parbhani, Sangli, Satara, Ahmednagar, Wardha, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Nagpur, Jalgaon and Solapur districts.

''If such balloons are spotted, people should refrain from touching them or tampering with them. On sighting such balloons with scientific equipment, citizens must alert the local police station, post office and administration,'' Sangli Collector Raja Dayanidhi said.

The balloons are being launched from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Institute's balloon facility in association with the Department of Atomic Energy and the Indian Space Research Organization. ''These balloons are made of thin (polyethylene) plastic films and are 50 metres to 85 metres in diameter. They are filled with hydrogen gas. The balloons, carrying scientific instruments for research, are expected to reach altitudes between 30 kilometres and 42 kilometres, depending on the experiment undertaken,'' an official said.

''After a period of a few hours, these devices come down to the ground with big coloured parachutes. A parachute, with equipment suspended below it, usually descends slowly on a long rope, about 20 to 40 metres long. These devices can land at points around 200 to 350 kilometres from Hyderabad,'' he added.

On the Visakhapatnam-Hyderabad-Solapur route, these balloons are likely to be over the states of Andhra Pradesh, north Karnataka and Maharashtra, a release from the Sangli administration said.

It said equipment deployed for scientific research was very sensitive and any kind of tampering would lead to loss of valuable information. Once these devices arrive on the ground, they will be collected by scientists.

Some of these devices may contain high voltages that can be dangerous if an attempt is made to handle it or open it, the release added.

The release said informers alerting the administration of these balloons will be rewarded, though the offer will not stand if any kind of tampering is detected.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)