Northeast flavour in city museum

BHUBANESWAR: Now one can have the feel of  uniqueness of the North-East in Bhubaneswar. From the mighty Brahmaputra to Loktak lake; from the forest bio-diversity to new species, the Regional Museum of Natural History (RMNH) will have most of it, thanks to its new gallery on North-East Bio-diversity.Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh inaugurated the gallery in the presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Forest and Environment Minister Debi Prasad Mishra here on Wednesday.Ramesh said the new gallery would give children an opportunity to understand and realise the uniqueness of the North-East where every year new species are being discovered. From Eastern Himalayas, 30 to 40 new species are being discovered annually.The North-East is a bio hotspot of India,  home to some of the 163 globally-threatened species, including the One-horned Rhinoceros and Wild Asian Water Buffalo. Between 1998 and 2008, at least 353 new species have been discovered in the Eastern Himalayas.Of the three bio-diversity hotspots of India - Western Ghats, Himalayas and Indo-Burma - the North-East region falls under the latter two.The new gallery will have exhibits depicting various eco-regions, important habitats, endangered avi-fauna, non-human primates, orchids, new species, hills, waterfalls and sacred groves of Meghalaya among others.The Union Minister said the RMNH was not  only a regional museum but also a national institution. Another one will soon come up at Gangtok, he announced.Naveen, Debi Mishra, Advisor to MoEF Dr GV Subramanyam, Chairperson, Advisory Planning Committee of RMNH Priyambada Mohanty Hejmadi and Director Dr B Venugopal spoke.