Bengal, with the inclusion of two new ones, has the highest number of biodiversity heritage sites in the country.
“The state now has 10 heritage biodiversity sites. There are 43 such sites in the country, with the highest number in Bengal, followed by Maharashtra and Tripura with five each,” Himadri Debnath, chairman of the state biodiversity board said at a programme held to commemorate the International Day for Biological Diversity on May 22.
The Biological Diversity Act, 2002, empowers the state government to notify areas of biodiversity importance asbiodiversity heritage site (BHS). Such sites can be terrestrial, aquatic, coastal, inland and marine ecosystems that have a rich biodiversity.
“At present, we have a few medicine plant-based biodiversity heritage sites in north Bengal. I have asked the board to explore the possibility of such sites in districts of south and central Bengal, mainly in the Jungle Mahal areas,” environment minister Manas Bhuniya told The Telegraph after the programme. In Bengal, there are two medicinal plant-based heritage sites, in Tonglu and Dhotre in Darjeeling district.
“We have asked the Union government for maintenance of such sites but nothing has been done yet,” said a senior official.
Once an area is declared as biodiversity heritage site, the onus is on the local administration to set up a management committee and prepare a plan of action for its conservation, said the official.
Biodiversity experts pointed out that many of the heritage sites are hardly being maintained with no finance available. “Unless funds are made available, how will we will manage the sites?” wondered a senior district official who is in charge of one such biodiversity heritage site.
“Look at the biodiversity management committees; most of them hardly function,” said an environment activist.
Biodiversity management committees are mandated to look after local biodiversity. During the programme on May 22, the biodiversity board claimed that the state has 3,830 biodiversity management committees. “It’s good that so many committees have been formed in the state, but we also need to see that such committees function properly,” said MP Jawhar Sircar at the programme.
Salt Lake park to be renovated
A park in Salt Lake that had started to resemble a garbage dump littered with plastic bottles, used cardboard boxes and sanitary ware — will be cleaned up and renovated by the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA).
The CE Block’s Green Verge Park in Salt Lake’s Sector I had been lying in neglect for months.
Once a popular hangout for resident, the park now resemble a mini forest, overrun by weeds.
Residents of the block had requested the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation and the KMDA multiple times to renovate the park.
The park is located in the middle of the CE Block and bifurcates the residential area into two parts.
A senior KMDA official said that a team inspected the park last Wednesday and renovation is expected to start in the next couple of weeks.
According to the official, all the play furniture in the park will either be replaced or repaired. LED lights will also be installed.