State's first butterfly park opens in Belvai

August 18, 2013
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Mangalore, Aug 18: Who doesn't like the colourful wings of butterfly fluttering and swaying in the air, hopping over flowers? Well, everyone does but not many spare a minute to think of the fact that how extinct these wonderful creatures have become.

However, looking at the toll modern lifestyle has taken on these tiny creatures an avid butterfly lover and conservationist Sammilan Shetty took a step towards preserving the butterfly species and this step has brought him to the inauguration of a 'Butterfly Park' at Belvai near Karkala, on Sunday.

Named as 'Sammilan Shetty's Butterfly Park', this is the first of its kind in the state. The dedication and planning of two years has finally culminated into an exclusive park for butterflies, with 113 butterfly species living over 7.35 acre land.

Speaking about his love for butterflies, Mr Shetty said that his interest grew while he was working on a project on 'Study of local butterflies'. His Zoology lecturer Ashok C H had designated the topic to him.

Slowly observing the creature, he made up his mind to have park for these creatures which were becoming victim to man's extreme meddling with nature.

“I came across a book on gardening of butterflies authored by Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) Programmes-General Manager Isaac Kehimkar. Taking clues from the book, I too started to plant nectarine flower saplings that attract butterflies, and created an atmosphere that is suitable for the butterflies to lay eggs and breed in the park,” he said.

Dr Arunachalam Kumar, Director of Nitte University (Research and Development) said that thermal power plants are harmful to butterflies as it affects the metamorphosis phase. He said that setting up of power plant at a distance of 15 km would definitely affect the butterfly park.

Karnataka State Wildlife Board Member Dr N A Madhyastha said that butterflies are ecological indicators.

Portal publicflyparkbelvai.com too was launched on the occasion. The website comprises information about butterflies and the butterfly park. The park developed at a cost of Rs five lakh, will be open for public on every Sunday from 8.30 am to 12.30 pm.

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Comments

santhosh s
 - 
Wednesday, 6 Apr 2016

Am doing butterfly project ( M.Sc project) in Karanji lake mysuru, if you provide an apportunity to do work on butterflies any where in Karnataka. Please its my humbnle request to you.

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News Network
June 28,2020

Udupi, Jun 28: The Padubidri police have booked cases against two patients of Novel Coronavirus for not revealing their primary contacts and hiding their travel history.

According to DHO Sudhirchandra Sooda, two siblings from Hejamadi in Padubidri had tested positive for COVID-19 recently. After shifting to the hospital, when the officials asked them about their primary contacts and travel history, the patients furnished false information.

When the officials collected information from various sources, they realised that the duo had travelled to Bantwal, Kasargod, Ullal and other places in Dakshina Kannada, said Dr Sooda. Hence, the district administration decided to file cases against them, he added.

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News Network
March 31,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 31: Venkara Raghava, a software engineer from Bengaluru, who was infected with the coronavirus has recovered and is currently "doing perfectly well".

"I am doing perfectly well now. I had travelled to Los Angeles via Heathrow airport and that is when I came in contact with many travellers. I might have picked up the infection there," Raghava told news agency.

It was in Los Angeles when he started getting a 'low-grade fever' which led him to prepone his flight to Bengaluru. "When I landed back in Bengaluru on March 8, I had a fever and I isolated myself. The same day I went to a hospital where my travel history was taken and I tested positive for COVID-19", he said.

The next day, he was admitted to the isolation centre. His entire family was also tested but the results came back negative.

When asked about what does suffering from COVID-19 feel like, he responded that it was a like a regular viral fever and was "nothing to be scared of". "The fever is very grinding, and since my childhood, I never had a fever. I had a fever for almost 15 days consistently 100 degrees (F)," he said.

About his experience at the isolation centre, he said that it was an experience unlike that of a hospital. "At the isolation centre, one has to take care of themselves, unlike a hospital where doctors and nurses take care of the patient. I had to put a wet cloth on myself and you cannot overdose yourself with Calpol or Paracetamol," he said.

For him, "The tough times are now over" and now he has fully recovered but in the process, he ended up losing about five kilograms. "After the fifteenth day when I woke up with no fever, they took a test for the nose and the throat and it came back negative," he recalled, and on March 22, he was set free.

For one week, he has been in self-quarantine at home "being completely watchful" that the symptoms do not reoccur.

The number of total coronavirus cases reached 1,251 on Monday. There are 1117 active cases in the country, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

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Agencies
June 20,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 20: A 56-year-old head constable, who had tested positive for the coronavirus infection a couple of days ago and was undergoing treatment, died on Saturday, police said.

The deceased, attached to the Kalasipalya police station, was being treated at Victoria Hospital here, they said.

This the second death of a policeman in the state due to COVID-19. The first one was an assistant sub-inspector attached to the V V Puram traffic police station.

Officials said the deceased constable was among nine others who had tested positive for COVID-19.

Meanwhile, an ASI with the Wilson Garden traffic police station here has also reportedly tested positive. According to sources, the ASI is undergoing treatment at a designated hospital and the station has been sanitised. His contacts are being quarantined. 

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