Butterfly park to come up at Vellalore tank in Coimbatore

The Vellalore tank in Coimbatore, where a study for one year recorded 101 species of butterflies, is expected to attract more winged beauties as foundation for a butterfly park was laid on the bund of the urban wetland on April 23, 2023.

The Vellalore tank in Coimbatore, where a study for one year recorded 101 species of butterflies, is expected to attract more winged beauties as foundation for a butterfly park was laid on the bund of the urban wetland on Saturday.

An initiative by the Kovai Kulangal Padhukappu Amaippu (KKPA), the butterfly park will be constructed with corporate social responsibility funds from Milacron India Private Limited (Mold Masters Division). Pollachi MP K. Shanmugasundaram and Coimbatore District Collector Kranthi Kumar Pati laid the foundation for the butterfly park.

KKPA coordinator R. Manikandan said the park would have nectar plants and host plants for butterflies. “Already plants attracting butterflies are growing on the tank bund. We are in the efforts to source more flowering and host plants from other places. The park will come up on an area of 50 m width and 300 m length. The work is expected to be completed in four months”, he said.

Mr. Shanmugasundaram and Mr. Pati released a book titled Butterflies of Vellalore Wetland. The book is based on a study undertaken by The Nature and Butterfly Society (TNBS) and KKPA from October 2021 to September 2022, which recorded a total of 101 species of butterflies belonging to five major families, namely Swallowtails (9 species), Whites & Yellows (19), Brush-footed (31), the Blues (26) and the Skippers (16), from the wetland.

The study team comprised A. Pavendhan, K. Sravan Kumar, H. Theivaprakasham, K. Sadheeskumar, C.V. Nishanth, H. Ramanasaran, T. Nagaraj and S. Makesh Kumar from TNBS and Mr. Manikandan and Y. Kamalakkannan from KKPA. The book authored by Mr. Pavendhan also provides species related information in Tamil.

Assistant executive engineer D. Subramanian and assistant engineer M. Sivakumar from the Water Resources Department (Noyyal Irrigation Division); Alfred Nobel, V. Suresh Kumar and N. Saravanan from Milacron India Pvt Ltd; and T. Suresh and V. Hareeswar from KKPA spoke at the event, which was also attended by the public from Vellalore and students. For purchase queries of the book priced at ₹ 300, contact the KKPA on WhatsApp at 80157-14790 and 95667-37318.