Before computers and electronic aids made teaching science to kids more interesting, the National Museum for Natural History (NMNH) was the go-to place for students. Popular with school trips and family outings, the museum managed to stay relevant for over 38 years despite needing a revamp.
News of the museum being gutted on Tuesday morning filled many Delhiites with nostalgia. It brought back memories of visits that would usually begin with the customary photo; posing with the life-size model of an Allosauraus in the lawns of the museum or with “Mohan” the one-horned Indian rhinoceros that greeted visitors at the entrance of the building.
According to the Fire Department, the three floors that housed the displays were gutted and Museum Officials have not yet managed to take stock of what they can salvage of the thousands of artefacts that were a part of its collection. The NMNH divided its displays into three sections; Introduction of Natural History, Natures Network: Ecology, and Conservation.
One of the most prized possessions of the museum is a 160 million-year-old fossil bone of a dinosaur called a Sauropod. It also had a prized collection of bird eggs including that of an ostrich and the long-billed vulture.
Popular with children were the collection of stuffed animals, some of which are now extinct, that had been preserved by taxidermists. It included two rare (and now extinct) vultures, an Asiatic Lion, a tiger, a white tiger from the 1950s, a gigantic dolphin and a snow leopard, among others. The museum has specimens of various types of flora and fauna too and a major part of the museum was dedicated to the herpetological specimens of reptiles and preserved butterflies and fossils.
Photo: S. Subramanium
The museum also has a number of books, films and research material on ecology and environment.
The museum was a favourite with school children that visited the theme-based galleries on geology, botany and zoology and had access to experiential resource centres like the Discovery Room, Activity Room and attended talks and seminars that were conducted as a part of the museum’s outreach activities to sensitise students and make them voice their views on global warming and climate change.
Photo: S. Subramanium
Reaching the spot to review the situation on Tuesday Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said that it was a tragic incident as the Natural History Museum is a national treasure.
The minister announced that he has ordered a fire safety audit of all museums in the country. “We have 34 museums across the country under our ministry and we have ordered a fire audit of all establishments,” he said.
Set up in 1978 as part of India’s Silver Jubilee Celebration, it was established at a rented premises that was the FICCI Building and is under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
Now, only memories remain.
