Welcome to the Butterfly Park in ‘Kashmir of Odisha’ !

April 28, 2016 12:00 am | Updated 05:46 am IST - BERHAMPUR:

de28 park

de28 park

A nature park with special emphasis on conserving and showcasing butterflies as well as medicinal plants in their natural habitat has come up at Daringbadi of Kandhamal district, an important tourist destination known as ‘Kashmir of Odisha’.

This nature park was opened to public in March this year. The project on around four hectares is being managed and maintained by the Sarangirpi Van Suraksha Samity (VSS), an association of the local people involved in protection of forests and nature in the region.

The nature park has been developed by the forest department at a cost of over Rs.55 lakh and handed over to the VSS for management. As per the MoU signed with the forest department, the VSS will also protect the environment of nearby areas by protecting forest from fire and illicit felling as well as other biotic pressures through plantation of pine species in the gap areas of Sraniketa reserve forest, said Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Baliguda V. Karthick.

Butterfly Park of Daringbadi is second of its kind after Nandankanan in Bhubaneswar. While the one at Nandankanan is a closed one, the one at Daringbadi is an open one making it unique. Here, the visitors can enjoy a variety of colourful butterflies in their natural surroundings to understand their significance in the ecosystem. Food and natural habitat have been provided for the butterflies to stay and breed. Plants like pentas, lantana, ixora, helicteres, barleria, nerium, jatropha, cosmos, zinnia, from which butterflies suck nectar, have been planted in large numbers. Butterflies have been provided shelter and breeding areas through plantation of plants like Tecoma stans, hibiscus, curry leaf, citrus, bauhinia, ficus, palm, mango, guava and bamboo in the upper part of the park behind the rockery.

Water flows from the rockery to the lily pond through water ways crisscrossing the park to provide natural habitat for the butterflies.

The medicinal garden now contains over 50 species of rare plants aesthetically planted with a statue of Charak in the background. A small auditorium has also been constructed for 3D shows on nature, environment and wild life conservation. On display are life-size models of wild animals and exhibits related to life and traditions of Kutia Kondh tribals who reside in Kandhamal district.

According to Mr Karthick, they plan to provide accommodation to tourists in tribal huts and nature trail in the pine forest of Sraniketa reserve forest. These facilities would be provided to tourists in collaboration with the Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC).

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.