Science institute looks to preserve the butterfly

With a view to providing a proper home to butterflies in the unique Butterfly Valley in Assam's Golaghat district, especially the endangered varieties, the North East Institute of Science and Technology is trying to locate and nurture plants there on which they breed.

The valley is situated inside the Numaligarh Refinery township, spread over an area of 30 acres amidst a backdrop of verdant green and surrounded by hillocks.

It is adjacent to the misty Deopahar hills and the Kaliani river, and is not far away from the world-famous Kaziranga National Park either.

An ecological hotspot, the Northeast is home to a dozen of endangered butterfly species and also has a variety of plants on which the butterflies breed, a research scholar attached to the North East Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST), Ms Deepanjali Saikia, said.

“Our effort is to identify more and more host plants to enable the butterflies and moths to breed, so that the valley becomes a unique place for insects in the world,” she said. At least 75 species of butterflies belonging to the five broad butterfly families have been listed in the valley, which also hosts an approximatley 60,000 plants endemic to the Northeast.

The refinery authorities along with entomologists of the NEIST are playing a pivotal role in maintaining the fragile ecological balance in the industrial area, an NRL official Mr K. Borgohain told PTI.

The Butterfly Valley was set up as a part of the NRL's commitment to protect and conserve the environment and ecology in the vicinity of the refinery, NRL's Corporate Communication Manager Madhuchanda, Mr Adhikari Choudhury, said.

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