India’s biodiversity is a ‘unique treasure’: PM Modi in Mann ki Baat

The Prime Minister on Sunday urged upon people to preserve and conserve the nation’s rich biodiversity, as it was a “unique treasure” for the entire humankind.

Addressing his monthly ‘Mann ki Baat’ radio address, Narendra Modi referred to Tamil poetess Avvaiyar to drive home his point.

He also narrated stories of courage and strength to convey that ‘age and disability’ cannot be a hurdle in achieving goals.

“What we know is just a handful of sand. What we do not know is like a universe in itself,” he said quoting her.

Similar is the case with the biodiversity of this country, the Prime Minister pointed out.

“The more you know, the more you realise the magnitude of what you do not know. Our biodiversity too is a unique treasure for the entire human kind. We have to preserve it,” he said.

The Prime Minister said the traditions and the legacy we have inherited teaches us compassion toward all living beings and boundless love for nature.

Throughout the year, India is home to many migratory species. “We are told that more than 500 varieties of birds fly in from varied regions,” he pointed out.

He informed that recently, biologists discovered a new species of fish whose habitat is within the caves of Meghalaya. It is believed that this fish is the largest among aquatic species found under the surface of caves.

“It a matter of joy that India, and especially Meghalaya, is home to a rare species. It lends a new facet to India’s biodiversity,” he said.

He also gave an example of a 105-year old woman who cleared ‘level 4’ examination in Kerala recently, a 12-year-old girl who scaled Mount Aconcagua in South America and a young man from Uttar Pradesh with physical disability who opened his own slipper manufacturing unit, to drive home his point.

While narrating the story of 105-year-old Bhagirathi Amma, the prime minister said, “If we wish to progress in life, we should develop ourselves, if we wish to achieve something in life, the first pre-condition for that is the student within us must never die.”