Garware College science project a hit with citizens

The department put up information about the initiative on their website,following which they got an overwhelming response. “We received photos from children as well as housewives. We realised that rich flora and fauna is not attractive only for tourists. People who like bird-watching can turn their hobby into an important source of information,as almost everyone owns a camera these days,” added Patwardhan.

All the photos that have been collected by the department have date imprints,the name of the area where it was clicked and the name of the photographer. “Someone sent us a picture of a pangolin (ant-eater) from the Raigarh area. We did not know about the presence of the animal in the area but this photo showed that there was some kind of disturbance in the area due to which the animal had come there. Small examples like this can help us with our research,” said Patwardhan.

The department is also planning to make this initiative an annual event. They also plan in going to schools across the city to make children aware of the biodiversity around them. Shrikant Gupta,principal said,“We received an overwhelming response from different age groups this year and thus we are planning to make this into an annual event. Apart from spreading awareness among laymen about their area’s biodiversity,it will also help our students to carry out their research.”