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Bathinda: From November 29 to November 31, how about taking biodiversity lessons on a train? That is when the Science Express— Biodiversity Special— a mobile exhibition on a specially designed 16-coach AC train, will be stationed at the Bathinda railway station for three days.To showcase threats to environment and biodiversity in India besides cutting-edge research in science and technology to combat this crisis with community and individual participation, the Biodiversity Special strives to reveal the relevance of science in meeting these challenges in everyday life.An initiative of the department of science and technology and the ministry of environment and forests, the train will feature 10 bio-geographic zones of India and exhibits on climate change and energy conservation. There will also be a Joy of Science Lab, where the participants will get a chance to perform experiments in physics, chemistry, biology, electronics and mathematics.The Biodiversity Special, in which the students participate in various educational activities, training programmes and perform experiments, has been running between June and December every year for the last five years. Earlier, the theme of this train was always the science subjects. But this time, on the sixth countrywide journey of this train, the theme is biodiversity.The reason for choosing biodiversity as the new special theme for the Science Express was that the eleventh meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP 11) was held in India in Hyderabad from October 8 to 19 this year. So, the Ministry of Environment and Forests decided that it would be called Biodiversity Special, said Neeraj Kumar Pal, the project in-charge of the train.

Neeraj Kumar Pal is from the Centre for Environment Education (CEE), Lucknow. The task to make the Science Express as Biodiversity Special was entrusted to the CEE.

At the COP 11, the participating countries had agreed to increase funding in support of actions to halt the rate of loss of biodiversity.

Out of the total 16 coaches of the train, eight have been dedicated to the biodiversity exhibition, featuring 10 bio-geographic zones in the country.

This is the reason why the number of coaches for science related information has been reduced to only four this time.

"As threat to the environment is a fast emerging challenge to mankind, community and individual participation is necessary to meet this challenge. Therefore, one of the compartments of the Science Express, coach number 13, has been specially assigned for teachers' training programme," he said.

"Besides making the students and teachers aware about the threats to biodiversity, the Science Express will seek to make them aware about the efforts being put in by the government and the non-governmental organizations (NGOs)," said Neeraj Kumar.

"We hope that after their training, the students and teachers will involve the community to make them aware about the threats to biodiversity and how to combat it," he said.

Giving a bird's eye view of the bio-geographical zones of India, including trans-Himalayas, the Himalayas, the Gangetic plain, the north-east and the coastal areas, the Science Express would meet its target of touching 52 towns to educate the students by December.

Showcasing the challenges and solutions for the endangered species, agriculture, farming and biodiversity, the Science Express is meant especially for the children in the age-group of 6-12 years. But the train is open to all for viewing.