BUTTERFLY Express: Butterfly Garden for Mumbai & Navi MumbaI

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With the monsoon yet to arrive, regular care and maintenance helped sustain all 10 Butterfly

Express gardens throughout June. Four interns assisted with deweeding, soil loosening,

mulching, composting, garden health assessments and seed collection, while gardeners ensured

consistent upkeep during the dry spell. A mud-puddling station was established at Uran Police

Station, providing butterflies with access to essential minerals. Together, these efforts helped

maintain healthy and vibrant butterfly-friendly habitats across the project sites.

May focused on strengthening the regular maintenance and resilience of all 10 butterfly

gardens under Project Butterfly Express. Monthly monitoring visits included soil testing, plant

health assessments, pruning, mulching, garden infrastructure maintenance and distribution of

biofertiliser kits and butterfly field guides to police staff. To support plant survival during the

summer, dry-leaf mulching was maintained across all gardens to retain soil moisture and

reduce heat stress, while watering was increased to twice a day to ensure adequate moisture

and plant health.

The butterfly gardens at Panvel ACP and Panvel City Police Stations continued to receive regular

care and habitat-strengthening interventions during April. At Panvel ACP, 6 benches were

installed for plant uplifting and 15 stakes were added for plant support. At Panvel City Police

Station, dead branches were pruned, along with the installation of 15 stakes and a trellis to

support climbers. Dry-leaf mulching was carried out at both sites, and biofertiliser kits were

provided to the gardeners to promote plant health. Regular maintenance by the gardeners

continues to support the development of healthy, butterfly-friendly spaces.

March focused on expanding awareness and strengthening butterfly-friendly spaces under

Project Butterfly Express, supported by DCB Bank Limited. Butterfly exhibits were installed at

four police stations—Panvel Taluka, Kalamboli, Kalamboli Headquarters and Taloja—to

promote awareness of butterfly diversity and conservation. Alongside this, plantation, garden

maintenance, habitat improvement and biodiversity monitoring were carried out across

multiple police stations, supported by volunteer participation. Monitoring included butterfly

counts, plant health, air quality and noise levels, contributing to healthier and greener police

station environments.

In February, Project Butterfly Express, supported by DCB Bank Limited, focused on the

maintenance and monitoring of butterfly gardens across Navi Mumbai police stations. DCB

Bank volunteers participated in deweeding, soil loosening, mulching and plantation reviews,

helping maintain the health of the gardens. Biodiversity monitoring was also carried out

through butterfly counts and plantation health assessments, with several butterfly species and

life stages recorded. Staff perception surveys were conducted with police personnel to

understand their experience and engagement with the gardens. These activities helped assess

the overall health of the gardens, document butterfly diversity and strengthen the connection

between police personnel and urban biodiversity.

January saw an active phase of youth engagement under Project Butterfly Express, supported

by DCB Bank Limited, with 40 students from SIES College, Nerul participating in a week-long

volunteering programme across police stations. The students contributed to butterfly garden

maintenance through mulching, watering and plant rearrangement, while engaging with police

personnel and gaining hands-on experience in urban biodiversity conservation. The initiative

strengthened community participation and demonstrated how police station gardens can serve

as spaces for environmental learning, social interaction and meaningful volunteering.

December marked a major milestone for Project Butterfly Express, funded by DCB Bank, with all 10 butterfly gardens across police stations in Navi Mumbai becoming fully functional.

During early December, phased field visits completed the installation of educational plant signages, butterfly feeders, and water ponds at every site. These additions have strengthened each garden as a micro-habitat that supports pollinators, urban biodiversity, and public awareness.

On 24th December 2025, the Butterfly Garden at Sanpada Police Station was formally inaugurated by ACP Shri Adinath Budhavant, marking the completion of all ten gardens under the project. Notably, the Sanpada garden recorded the highest butterfly diversity among all sites, with 15 species documented within three months of establishment, indicating strong ecological impact.

As part of Phase One, a field guide featuring 60 butterfly species has been developed and placed at police stations to support learning and biodiversity monitoring. Guided butterfly garden tours for schools and community groups are planned as the next step in public engagement.

 November saw steady progress under the Butterfly Express/Patrol initiative with DCB Bank and the Navi Mumbai Police. We completed major landscaping and pathway development at the Sanpada and Nhava Sheva Police Station Butterfly Gardens, including a new pond, winding paths, and a butterfly feeder.

Butterfly Awareness Sessions were conducted across multiple police stations, engaging personnel from Sanpada, Vashi APMC, Khandeswar, Turbhe, Rabale MIDC, Nhava Sheva, and Uran. Sessions covered butterfly ecology, host plants, and habitat conservation. Plantation assessments were also carried out to track plant health and growth.

On 22 November, 61 volunteers from DCB Bank supported garden enhancement work at Vashi and Sanpada by installing plant signages, fencing plants, and creating brick lining.

In October 2025, the Butterfly Patrol Project by iNaturewatch Foundation, in collaboration with DCB Bank and Navi Mumbai Police, expanded its green footprint with the creation of five new Butterfly Gardens at Panvel ACP Office, Panvel City, Khandeshwar, Uran, and Nhava Sheva Police Stations. Each garden features a vibrant mix of nectar and host plants designed to support butterflies through every stage of their life cycle. Enthusiastic police staff actively participated in the plantation drives, turning their premises into mini havens for pollinators. Additionally, a compensatory plantation drive at Sanpada Police Station with 19 DCB Bank volunteers added 60 butterfly-attracting saplings. With ten gardens now established, these spaces are already buzzing with life — a beautiful reminder that when we create habitats for nature, nature immediately responds.  

 In the month of August, we began implementing plans for five butterfly gardens across Navi Mumbai. Our work included plantation activities, ordering plants and pots, and carrying out ground preparation and digging at the Vashi and Sanpada Police Stations. For the other three stations—Vashi APMC, Turbhe MIDC, and Rabale MIDC—we created potted gardens to suit the available space. With these efforts, we successfully completed the development of butterfly gardens at all five police stations.