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The three-day exhibition on science, particularly biodiversity and related issues, is mounted on a 16-coach AC train and is being visited mostly by school students and teachers. The Science Express is now the largest, longest and most visited science exhibition in the country, sources said.
It was inaugurated on June 5 this year and since then has covered about 32 destinations in the country by travelling 18,000 kms, before coming at the Nagpur railway station. The train will cover 20 more destinations before concluding its nationwide journey in Gandhinagar on December 22, 2012. So, far almost 12 lakh people have visited the train this year, sources said.
Since its launch in October 2007, the exhibition train has covered more than 68,000 kms across the country and has been viewed by over 65 lakh visitors at 230 halts over 830 exhibition days.
With the country hosting the 11th meeting of Conference of Parties (COP 11) to the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) in Hyderabad this month, the exhibition will move on to Secunderabad from October 9 to 19.
The organisers felt it was an opportune time to showcase the wide array of biodiversity in the country and conservation measures by way of this exhibition, official sources said. The exhibition on wheels is a collaborative initiative of Department of Science & Technology (DST) and Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) of the central government.
Support partner Indus Tower's CEO for Maharashtra, Amit Khanna told PTI that the entire itinerary of the exhibition has been planned by Department of Science and Ministry of Railways.
Of the 16 coaches in the train, eight supported by the MoEF are solely dedicated to showcasing the myriad biodiversity spread across bio-geographical zones in the country - the Himalayas, the gangetic plain, north east, deserts and semi-arid zones, western ghats, the Deccan peninsula, coasts and islands.
