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Call to stop use of firewood in OU hostels
There is something for nature enthusiasts to cheer about. In the recently submitted biodiversity report of Osmania University campus by the Wildlife Biology & Taxonomy Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University College of Science, Osmania University, shows that the university still has a good biodiversity.
Hyderabad: There is something for nature enthusiasts to cheer about. In the recently submitted biodiversity report of Osmania University campus by the Wildlife Biology & Taxonomy Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University College of Science, Osmania University, shows that the university still has a good biodiversity.
Out of the 1,632 acres of land, 60% is still under green cover. Though the animal diversity reduced in the last few decades as there used to be langurs and monkeys in abundance and a semi-captive population of spotted deer on the campus kept in an enclosure known as the ‘University Deer Park’ until the 90s, the deer were translocated to forest tracts of united Andhra Pradesh.
Dr C Srinivasulu, Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology, University College of Science says, “We have been working on the biodiversity of the state for the last 20 years.
The Vice Chancellor wanted us to undertake a green audit of the campus last year. This report is in fact a comprehensive data that has been collected over a period. With little effort, the carbon footprint can be reduced to a great extent.
We have given a few recommendations.”
The recommendations include switching to solar for cooking purpose in the hostel kitchens. Even today, there is a lot of dependence on wood as fuel. Another recommendation is not to burn the leaf litter that is accumulated in the gardens and instead turn it into vermicompost and a bio-fertiliser. On an average, one lakh vehicles pass through Osmania University and the report also recommended to look for alternatives to reduce vehicular traffic on the campus.
In all, there are 638 species of higher plants, 149 species of invertebrates and 194 species of vertebrates. The bird diversity of Osmania University is represented by 142 species belonging to 67 families. Some are rare and are found seasonally.
However, Dr Srinivasulu says, “The water birds and wetland dependent species are declining.”
Not many know that the reptile diversity of Osmania University campus is represented by 22 species belonging to 10 families. A senior researcher at the Wildlife Biology & Taxonomy Laboratory said, “76 species of spiders belonging to 18 families have been reported and spiders, being insect predators are good bio indicators.”
