A picture of a flowering plant found in and around Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Dec. 25: The state government is set to prepare a biodiversity data book for the city under the municipal corporation.

The document will contain information on flora and fauna found within the corporation limits and in the nearby areas.

Forest and environment minister Debi Prasad Mishra told The Telegraph that a survey similar to a population registry or voters’ list in a particular locality will be carried out.

“The document will be of great value to the public and researchers because it will have details of plant biodiversity constituting medicinal plant species and genetic diversity of different crops and cereals,” Mishra said.

Forest and environment secretary R.K. Sharma said the Regional Plant Resource Centre (RPRC), Bhubaneswar, would be roped in to develop the data book. It will be ready within a year’s time.

Sharma said this on the sidelines of the fourth Odisha Environment Congress, 2013, which was inaugurated yesterday at the Regional Museum of Natural History, Bhubaneswar.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik released a book by scientists of the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation that describes the biodiversity details of a gram panchayat in Koraput district. The biodiversity pilot project of Koraput will be replicated in all districts later.

At the inaugural session of the congress, renowned agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan said: “Odisha is a storehouse of several unique species.

The detailed listing of individual biodiversity species will definitely help local residents economically in the future.”

Giving the example, Swaminathan, the founder of the Green Revolution in India, said: “While Bhitarkanika has one of the largest collection of mangrove biodiversity in the world, the Koraput region has a great collection of rice varieties in the Jeypore valley.”

A.K. Sahoo, a scientist working with the directorate of research, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, said: “The biodiversity data book for the city will also create awareness among the students because they would become interested regarding the biological wealth of the locality. The involvement of student groups can also be considered.”

A group of bird enthusiasts who started the Bhubaneswar Bird Walks group on March 3 this year has so far documented more than 100 species of birds from localities such as Khandagiri-Udayagiri, RPRC campus, Dhauli, various water bodies and low-lying areas.

Panchami Manoo Ukil, founder member of the group, said: “The decision of the government to have a biodiversity data book is a good step and it will help the entire society.”

Another member of the group, Satyasundar Mishra, had documented 62 species of birds from the campus of the Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture on the city outskirts and its adjacent areas.