Science Express to raise awareness on biodiversity

New Delhi: Science Express—a 16-coach train for promoting scientific temper—today began its fifth journey, this time to raise awareness about the country’s unique biodiversity. The Science Express - Biodiversity Special (SEBS) was flagged off by Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit at the Safdarjang Railway Station in New Delhi today.[caption id=“attachment_332848” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Science Express- Biodiversity special train. Image courtesy PIB”]  [/caption] The train will remain at the Safdarjung Railway Station till Thursday after which it will begin its journey to reach out to over a million people. It will be stationed at Hyderabad from 9-19 October when the city would host the 11th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. The train will culminate for the year at Gandhinagar on 22 December. Of the 16 coaches comprising the SEBS, eight are dedicated to showcasing biodiversity spread across the various bio-geographical zones – the Trans-Himalaya and the Himalayas, the Gangetic Plain, North-East India, the Desert and Semi-Arid Zone, the Western Ghats, the Deccan Peninsula and the Coasts and Islands. Three other coaches have exhibits on climate change, energy and water conservation. During June-December 2012, the train will travel almost 18,000 km, halting for three to four days at each of the 52 locations. According to the ministry, the exhibition is expected to draw more than 1.5 million visitors, while indirectly it is likely to engage over five million people. The Science Express began as an Indo-German venture in 2007 and has toured the country four times. PTI