'People Biodiversity Register of KMC is first-of-its-kind in any metro city across India'

Kolkata: Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has come out with the first of its kind "People Biodiversity Register" (PBR)—a document containing comprehensive information on locally available bio-resources, including landscape and demography of a particular area.

The PBR was released by Mayor Firhad Hakim in presence of Member Mayor-in-Council (Parks & Gardens) Debasish Kumar on Saturday, eve of UN International Biodiversity Day (May 22).

The report states that 290 animal species that includes 70 butterfly species, 47 fishes, 84 varieties of birds, and 22 varieties of mammals have been documented.

Among the flora, 138 species of trees, 26 Chinese vegetables, 33 medicinal plants and 100 other plant species have been found in the survey.

The report has been prepared by the Biodiversity Management Committee constituted by KMC and has encompassed all the 144 wards of the civic body.

All the wards have been documented for land use, lifescape including both floral and faunal biodiversity as well as human scape which has pointed out how human beings, groups etc have played and are playing a key role in the city's development.

"In the political system, we always talk about facilities of drinking water, sewerage and drainage, roads and lights as part of civic amenities but a healthy environment should be our top priority. KMC is the first among the metro cities in the country which has come out with PBR," Hakim said.

Biodiversity stands extremely critical for the health of any city, particularly a city like Kolkata which is significantly affected by several environmental issues like air pollution, climate change and associated impacts.

"The comprehensive report is a part of sustainable development that we are eyeing in our way forward," Kumar said.