Patna: Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who heads the environment and forest department, inaugurated a biodiversity park near Araria on Wednesday.

The facility has been developed on a 14-hectare plot located along NH-57 and is around 10km from Araria town. The aim is conservation and enrichment of plant species at one place, making people aware of the importance of biodiversity and also to promote research work in the related field. A total of 450 species of trees and plants are in the biodiversity park, which has been set up at a cost of about Rs 8 crore.

The park also boasts of eco huts, open lawns, children play area, a pond and nature interpretation centre to attract visitors. The park has been developed as part of eco-tourism development in Bihar.

Prior to inaugurating the park, Sushil Kumar visited Supaul with energy minister Bijendra Yadav to inaugurate a tissue culture centre, which would be used for producing a lakh saplings of bamboo every year. One such facility is working in Bhagalpur which produces equal number of bamboo saplings and the state government is working on a plan to enhance the capacity of the centre to produce six lakh bamboo saplings every year.

The state government is promoting bamboo cultivation to help farmers get additional source of income from their land. A mature bamboo fetches around Rs 25 and it generally takes two to three years for a bamboo plant to get mature.

Prior to inaugurating the two new facilities at Araria and Supaul, the deputy chief minister planted a sapling on the premises of his official residence at 1 Polo Road to launch the 10-day Van Mahotsav during which the environment and forest department and the rural development department would undertake a joint drive for planting one-and-a-half crore saplings across the state.

Sushil Kumar also launched Hariyali App on the occasion using which people can upload their pictures with saplings with detailed address and geo-tagging.