‘Govt will back devpt of botanical gardens in state’

Nagpur: Maharashtra forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar on Thursday said botanical gardens will be developed throughout the state if such proposals came before the government and added that conservation of traditional biodiversity varieties was of utmost importance to avoid their extinction.
He was speaking after inaugurating the seventh foundation day of Maharashtra Biodiversity Board at Vanamati Hall. Mayor Nanda Jichkar, principal secretary (forest) Vikas Kharge, principal chief conservator of forests (HoFF) Umeshkumar Agrawal and chairman of Maharashtra Biodiversity Board Vilas Bardekar were present.

Mungantiwar said a botanical garden is coming up at Visapur in Chandrapur district on the lines of Bengaluru and Kolkata to apprise people of various biological resources. He appealed to biodiversity management committees in urban areas to play an active role in promoting the culture.

People should submit plans for conservation of biodiversity to the government for which funds will not be a problem. The biodiversity board has done a remarkable work for the past seven years. However, the focus should continue to be on preservation of traditional varieties of biodiversity, Mungantiwar said.

Earlier, a rally was organized from Maharajbagh to Sitabuldi which culminated at the point of origin. Around 150 students from various schools participated and gave the message of saving biodiversity.

A book depicting the seven-year journey of the board was released on the occasion. A short film on ‘Biodivesity Powada’, written by Dattatray Patil, was also released.

Cheques worth Rs20,000 were given to 10 gram panchayats for establishment of biodiversity management committees and doing outstanding work.

Stalls of bamboo and different kinds of fisheries were also put up to educate people about various bio-diverse organisms.