Students to get closer to nature by visiting biodiversity-rich spots

MoEF initiative soon to promote environmental awareness through field trips

July 28, 2013 04:27 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 08:50 pm IST - CHENNAI:

A volunteer explaining an exhibit inside the Science Express - Bio Diversity Special exhibition train at  Chennai Central station on Saturday. Photo: B.Jothi Ramalingam.

A volunteer explaining an exhibit inside the Science Express - Bio Diversity Special exhibition train at Chennai Central station on Saturday. Photo: B.Jothi Ramalingam.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests will soon come out with a programme to make nature camps a part of the school experience to raise environmental awareness among children, Jayanthi Natarajan, Union Minister of State for Environment, said on Saturday.

Presiding over the launch of the ‘Science Express-Biodiversity Special’ exhibition train at Chennai Central, Ms. Natarajan said the initiative, aimed at students of classes VI to X, would involve field visits to biodiversity-rich spots for over a couple of days.

According to Ms. Natarajan, tragedies like the recent Uttarakhand calamity put to rest beyond any doubt the debate over whether environment is more important than development or whether the environment has to pay the price for the country’s economic growth. “That illusion has been definitively put to a close in the wake of the Uttarakhand tragedy,” she said.

Urging children and the youth to be ‘eco-warriors’, Ms. Natarajan advocated sustainable development that was not only intrinsically inclusive but also promoted an understanding of nature.

The 16-coach air-conditioned exhibition train will be stationed on Platform No. 11 of Chennai Central for three more days.

Since 2007, the train has in four phases of its campaign runs, covered 94,000 km, featured 1,100 exhibition days across 300 locations, entertained and educated 99 lakh visitors and smashed six Limca Book records along the way.

Eight coaches on the train showcase the ecological wealth spread across bio-geographical zones of India such as the Himalayas, the Gangetic Plain and the Western Ghats through a series of interactive exhibits, short films and videos on mounted plasma TV screens and backlit panels.

The train has a ‘Kids zone’ for children to engage in fun-filled activities, games and puzzles in science, mathematics and environment. There is also a coach housing the ‘Joy of science’ lab for young minds to perform various experiments.

One coach is dedicated to climate change and another to the theme ‘Way towards safe, secure and sustainable environment.’

Entry to this exhibition is free and open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The train, which would cover 62 locations across the country, has four-day halts scheduled at the Cuddalore Port Junction from July 31, Tiruchi from August 4 and Kudal Nagar from August 8.

The exhibition special would then move to Thiruvananthapuram and Alappuzha before reaching Coimbatore on August 20.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.