If things go according to plan, Bengaluru’s famed Lalbagh Botanical Garden managed by the Karnataka government’s Horticulture Department, will open the state’s first large scale open butterfly park by January 2020. “We will require another one year to complete the project and we can possibly make it available to the public by January 2020. We are still adding some features to the existing plan to set up the butterfly park,” Chandrasekhar MR, Deputy Director of the Garden, told TNM.
“In Karnataka, this will be the first open air butterfly park without any enclosures. Approximately, we will get 50-60 different species of butterfly not only native to Bengaluru but also from the neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala among other places,” he added.
The Butterfly park will be spread over two acres of land near the Siddapura Gate and will approximately cost Rs 12-15 lakh to set up. Officials said that they will put up boards for the public to identify different breeds of butterflies and present the visitors with interesting information about each breed.
The open butterfly park was first proposed by the department in June as a measure to further the popularity of Lalbagh, one of the city’s major green spaces, along with some additions such as a sanctuary of endangered plant species common in the eco-sensitive Western Ghats. A taxonomical garden which will not be used for tourism purposes but as a live text book for biology students is also being planned. This idea was inspired by the design of Bioresources Nature Park in Nilambur, Kerala and the department is in touch with Kerala Forest Research Institute to replicate the model. Other than this, in order to naturally attract birds, fruit bearing trees will be planted.
Chandrasekhar said that the department will start start the process in June-July.
Currently, city dwellers and nature enthusiasts have to go to the enclosed Butterfly Park at the Bannerghatta Biological Park set up by the Department of Biotechnology (DoBT), Union Government and the Zoo Authority of Karnataka spread over 7.5 acres.
Lalbagh – the 240 acre lung space having more than 1500 species of plants is frequented by regular morning walkers from the city to tourists from across the world. Every year, the footfall shoots up during the Republic Day week when the garden hosts its annual flower exhibition week. In 2018, in a week’s time, the park attracted 3.39 lakh visitors earning a revenue of more than Rs 1 crore 20 lakh. A similar flower show is held during August 4-15. Otherwise weekends attract an average of 7,000 to 8,000 visitors.