Artwork on display at the newly opened North-east gallery at the Regional Museum of Natural History in Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, June 1: Abundant natural beauty and ecological diversity of North-eastern states have come to the capital city.

A gallery dedicated to the North-east was inaugurated today at the Regional Museum of Natural History (RMNH). The gallery demonstrates the rich biodiversity of the eight states of this part of the country.

The flora and fauna of Assam with the backdrop of the scenic Brahmaputra river escort the visitor as one enters the new gallery of the RMNH named North-east biodiversity gallery.

The picturesque sights from the Kaziranga forest, a UNESCO world heritage site famous for rhinos, elephants, water buffaloes, sambars and tigers has also been vividly described with wall arts of the national park and installed models of the birds and animals of the region.

The red pandas of the Teesta Valley of Sikkim and the Namdapha, which is the only national park of India with four large cat species – tiger, leopard, clouded leopard, snow leopard — can also be seen in the gallery. Similarly, the charming scenery of Garo, Khasi and Jayanti hills, the Loktak lake of Manipur, Dzukou Valley of Nagaland and panoramic views of Mizoram and Tripura have also been showcased here.

The diverse varieties of primates, orchids, rhododendrons, amphibians and reptiles of the entire northeast have also been shown at the gallery.

These form a major part of the wildlife and natural heritage of the country, informed scientist in-charge of the RMNH, G.N. Indresha.

“The eastern Himalayan region is a storehouse of a large number of species. As many as 353 new species were discovered here between 1998 and 2008. It has 11 out of the total 18 primates, 60 per cent of Indian birds and 135 out of the 450 tribes found in the country,” said Indresha.

The creation of this gallery took around a year for eight artists who created the paintings and three modellers who created the life-size models of rare species like that of the Gangetic Dolphin – the national aquatic animal.

“We worked day and night to create the gallery and it feels good when the visitors appreciate our work,” said artist Raj Kumar Behera who worked on the project. The modellers included those from the Orissa State Museum and the RMNH itself.

The Union Minister for environment and forests, Jairam Ramesh and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, inaugurated the gallery. Proposals of a fragrance park which would showcase 57 plants with exotic aroma; a bio-cultural park on a 10 acres just behind the RMNH which would have flower varieties associated with different Indian cultural traditions; a centre for Olive Ridley Turtles and marine biodiversity studies in Gahirmatha, a centre for wetlands and marine eco-system in Bhubaneswar were announced by the union minister.

“We will support the state government with funds worth Rs 40 crore for the projects,” announced Ramesh.