Butterflies to flutter around Chackai Junction

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Looking at charming butterflies fluttering amid flowers in the garden and sucking nectar from them could be a soothing experience. This is going to be a regular sight for anyone who travels through Chackai Junction in the city where a butterfly garden is planned. The city chapter of Round Table India (TRT 66) is getting ready to come up with the garden in the roundabout at Chackai Junction by the end of this month. A wide variety of saplings will be planted in the proposed garden to lure butterflies.  Praveen Muraleedharan, the ‘go-green convener’ of Round Table India Area One says: “At present, we are engaged in a study to identify the kind of butterflies that are prominent in the area. We hope to identify some 40 to 50 variety of butterflies there.” After conducting the study, a set of hosting plants and nectaring plants would be planted accordingly. Butterflies would breed on the hosting plants and feed on the nectaring plants. Among the plant varieties, there would be hibiscus, nerium (‘arali’), ‘chethi’ and hybrid neem.  Along with the plants, there would also be display boards showing the kind of butterflies that are likely to be found in the area. They will show the name of butterflies in English and Malayalam and the name of the preferred food plants of each. The funding and maintenance of the garden would be taken care of by Round Table India. “We have opted for plants that grow to a shorter length as the chosen area is on a busy road,” says Dr Sundheep V Elias, chairman of TRT-66. The plants may not grow beyond a height of one metre. The team has already set up a butterfly garden at Vilappil earlier this year.