New biodiversity centre to be opened in Silent Valley

Tourists using the suspension bridge to cross the Kunthi Puzha River in Silent Valley. A file Photo: K. Ananthan.

An international biodiversity research centre would be set up in the Silent Valley in Kerala as part of the silver jubilee celebrations of the national park, Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh said on Saturday.

The park, to be named after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, would be set up at a cost of Rs 5 crore, he said at a seminar in Mundoor near the Silent Valley.

The minister said the Centre would take up a scheme to sustain the environmental balance in the Western Ghats.

With the aid of the Japanese government, an amount of Rs 225 crore would be spent to set up infrastructure for forests development in 10 states in the country, including Kerala.

State Forests Minister Binoy Viswam presided.

Mr. Ramesh later released a stamp to mark the silver jubilee of announcement of Silent Valley as a national park.

The Silent Valley was declared a National Park on Nov 15, 1984. It was later dedicated to the nation by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in September 1985.