Butterfly Express: Butterfly Gardens for Police Stations

 All 10 Butterfly Gardens under the Butterfly Express project across Mumbai and Navi Mumbai are now fully equipped and complete.

During phased field visits on 3rd, 4th, and 5th December, installations of plant signages, butterfly feeders, and mini water ponds were successfully completed across all police station sites.

Each garden now functions as a vibrant micro-habitat—supporting pollinators, enhancing urban biodiversity, and serving as an educational and restorative green space within police station premises.

 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.