Bhubaneswar, June 10: The Medicinal Plant Garden under the City Forest Division will soon have a knowledge centre disseminating data on the common healing qualities of the plants, tips regarding their identification and ayurvedic properties so that people can use them in their daily life.

While the medicinal garden, which is spread over 155 acres with 350 different types of herbal species, has become a centre of attraction for many, the proposed knowledge centre will help popularise these plant species with healing power. The people can then grow them in their compounds.

“With stress affecting the lifestyles of almost every individual, many common medicinal plants are known to be just appropriate to heal those ailments without any side effects. Now, organic products are always encouraged to be used for their zero content of toxic chemicals and pesticides so people can grow these plants and use them.

“For the knowledge centre, we have decided to recruit a taxonomist, who knows the classification of plants and their place in the plant kingdom and an ayurvedic doctor, who is well-acquainted with the medicinal properties of the plant species and how to use them for diseases,’’ said divisional forest officer (DFO) of the division Jayanta Dash.

``We will also build a database relating the plants and their healing qualities, so that in future a visitor can come to the knowledge centre and through an interactive computer aided environment, know the details of the plant and its importance for a specific disease. The experts will also give extra inputs to the visitors regarding these plants,’’ the DFO said, adding: “The centre will be ready within a month or two.’’

Ranger R.K. Nayak of the Khandagiri office said: “The medicinal plant garden has 350 species, but out of them 102 tree species of medicinal plants are planted in 102 plots to create small patches of medicinal plant gene pool in the garden.

“The rest of the plants are either climbers, shrubs or herbs. More than 300 visitors are coming daily to the garden out of which 150 are morning workers and those who are having regular yoga practice and training session inside the park.

“We hope with the addition of the knowledge centre in the garden the number will group.’’

Currently, besides the regular visitors, students of botany, ayurveda, forestry and forest staff and officers undergoing training at various institutes of the state are visiting the garden, which, in fact, was a reclaimed portion of a laterite quarry on the outskirts of the city near Patrapada. It also has a beautiful nursery, which raises thousands of saplings for various plantation programmes undertaken in the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack as the forest division works as the nodal centre for the purpose.

Professor B.C. Rath, a senior citizen staying in the Kalinga Vihar (higher income group) Colony near the medicinal plant garden, said: “The knowledge centre will add to the footfalls in the garden, which has already become a happening place with the senior citizens and young ones attending classes on yoga on regular basis.

“With integration of the knowledge centre on common ayurvedic properties of the medicinal plants, the centre will attract more people.’’

“The integration of taxonomic knowledge with the ayurvedic data of the common medicinal plants at the Medicinal Plant Garden run by the forest department, will also generate inspiration among students who want to take up a career in pure science (botany in particular) and especially in taxonomy, as the experts in the subject are more in demand now, with the emphasis in environmental awareness,’’ added entrepreneur Master Apollo of the Kalinga Vihar area.