Talk & Slide Show On Snakes At “Aarohan”, Guwahati

In an effort to popularize science and sanitize children about environmental issues, Aarohan (run by Bhabendra Nath Saikia Children Welfare Trust, Guwahati-28, Assam) recently organized a series of popular scientific talks at its own premises. As a part of this programme, on 14 May 2007, Mr. Abhijit Das, herpetologist of Herpetology Division, Aaranyak (a Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) delivered a talk on Snakes. With the help of beautiful slides, Mr. Das described about variety and variability of shapes, sizes, and colours of different groups of snakes, their diverse mode of life, adaptations in their surrounding environment, and other interesting biological facts about snakes. Colour pictures of all the venomous snakes found in and around human habitation were also showed to the students with an in-depth discussion about snakebite managements.
At the talk, importance of the snakes in our natural environments, scientific facts about snake myths and various conservation issues for these ecologically valuable fauna were discussed. The whole session was interactive in nature and all students came up with their questions, snake experiences and myths about snakes known to them. Besides the children of Aarohan, volunteers, teachers & many guardians attended the programme.
Purnima Devi, a Volunteer of Aaranyak presented a Slide Show related to conservation of Environment.
Dr. Shyamaprasad Sharma, Chairman of Aarohan, also briefed up his practical experiences with snakes around his houses and delineated about the necessity for conservation of these little appreciated animals. He appealed to all students and their guardians to discourage the snake charmers and snake traders who use to take snakes from households. Dr. Sharma also promised students to arrange more talks about snakes in future at Aarohan.
The detail about this event was stated in a press release by Mr. Dhrubajyoti Kalita, Organising Secretary, Aaranyak, Guwahati-28, Mobile: 9864069583. The office of the organisation is situated at Samanwoy Path, Survey, Beltola, Guwahati-28, and Ph. 0361-2228418.