Patna.(BiharTimes): Students from St Michael’s, Don Bosco, St Joseph’s, Hartmann, May Flower, Gyan Jyoti and Rashtriya Vikas on Saturday (May 11) jointly celebrated World Bio-diversity day at the Tarumitra Bio-reserve.

The Vice Chancellor of the Central University of Bihar, Prof Janak Pandey as the Chief Guest inaugurated the show by adding herbs into the Biodiversity Soup Ganga MaiyakiKhichari under the Karoop tree.

United Nations has assigned the theme Water and Biodiversity this year. The students enacted the story of the rich bio-diversity of Bihar.

Class 8 student, Smita took the role of River Ganga and got down to a pond in Tarumitra surrounded by the students and the Vice Chancellor. Standing in the water, she talked on the rich biodiversity of Bihar which gave rise to a civilization and a vibrant society. The girl handed a bamboo basket full of green vegetables from the Bio-reserve as a reminder of the fertility of the Gangetic plains.

The students under the leadership of the Vice Chancellor, Prof Pandey cooked a tasty Khichari of Organic rice, potatoes and many green vegetables grown around the waters of River Ganga. While the cooking was in progress, Prof Janak Pandey drew the attention of the students to the intricate relationship that exists in the nature. He cautioned the students to protect the sensitive web of life.

He referred to the story of frog legs becoming a delicacy which led to the large-scale export of frogs from the country. “This led to the disappearance of frogs from the farmer’s field and the unmanageable resurgence of insects that eventually led to the crop failures”, said Prof Pandey.

U N Heroine, Shweta Marandi from St Joseph’s compered the meeting under the sprawling rare tree, Kamroop Ficusretusa. She also welcomed the Chief Guest and Guest of honor, the herbal expert Fr Meloo.

The campaigner for Organic cultivation, Ms Molomoo, who supervised the Khichari preparation said that she felt thrilled that the students appreciated the message of Biodiversity in a very practical way.

Campaign leaders on Biodiversity, Kanchan Pathak and D N Prasad helped the students to compose and sing songs on Biodiversity.

Also present on the occasion were Nivedita from St Michael’s, Vimala Mathew from Don Bosco, Tulika from Rashtriya Vikas and Fr Robert Athickal.