After three years long work in the background  Friday was the day for Surati's to see India's largest butterfly park. The beautiful Butterfly Garden  was  thrown open to public at Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) run Sarthana Zoo on Friday.

The park was  inaugurated by  Mayor Ranjeet Gilitwala  with hundreds of curious visitors who where impatient to see the garden.

          Around 30 different butterfly species like Common Indian Crow, Stripped Tiger, Blue Tiger, Red Pirate, Blue Pansy, Common Castor, Common leopard and Gray Pansy can be found in the park that has rock garden, areas, Walkway, a breeding house, waterfall etc.

          The butterfly park was thought of about three years ago by in-charge zoo superintendent Dr Praful Mehta so as to protect thousands of butterflies that live on 81 acre land in Sarthana Zoo. The concept took shape with the plantation of 80different types of 12,000 nectar plants to provide a breeding ground to butterflies.

         "We had put all our efforts to build this butterfly park," said Mehta, adding "We hope to get visitors from across the state and Maharahtra to the first-of-its-king park in Gujarat." He discounted any fear of butterflies migrating to other place as their habitat inside the Zoo has ample food and a breeding ground.

         The entry fee at Sarthana Zoo is likely to be doubled with the added attraction of Butterfly Park. The tickets for child and an adult will be hiked to Rs 10 and 20 respectively. Sources said.

         Ahead, work for wildlife interpretation center is on-at butterfly park to provide details about different species of birds and animals inside the Zoo.

Ramavatar Lohia, owner of Sree saree, closed an order of 5 lakh worth of saris for Rs 3 lakh after negotiations with a Delhi-based buyer . "The stock was two month old . Had I not giveen him the discount. I would have had to sell it off at a much lower price later, " he said. Lohia said the wholesale price  of  the sari stock he sold to Delhi-based buyer ranges between Rs250and Rs 600-somthing that would have cost him Rs 450 to Rs 850 two months ago.

There are hundreds of sari traders who have been offering heavy discounts to buyers in order designs and patterns keeps on changing very fast and the colors are not assorted.

According to Devkishan  Manghani secretary Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association (FOSTTA), the textile industry in the city manufactures sarees worth Rs 9,000 crore and Rs 11,000 crore per annum. There is no other way but, to clear stockpile before it becomes outdated.

"This years traders have been facing around 30 to 40 per cent losses with a slack Diwali and marriage season. Losses are pegged at Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 6,000 crore  Sarees worth Rs 7,000 crore to Rs 8.000 crore are piled up in the god owns of the textile traders," said Mangham. The man -made fabric industry in the city is equipped with over six lakh power-looms that manufactures around there crore meters of fabric per day. Around 400 dyeing and processing units each  one having the capacity to process around 20 million linier meters of fabric per annum, produces fabric and sarees in the country. The annual export of sarees and dress material is pegged at Rs 1,200 crore, while the supply in the domestic market ranges between Rs 18,000and 22,000 crore per annum.

A recent report by the leading credit rating agency, ICRA, revealled that sari , as a category , has clocked an impressive 8.8 per cent annual growth  in valuators - the growth  of other textile categories like suiting shirting, ready-made garments etc. has declined - between 1998 and 2006 to become a Rs 53.469 corore market. "Around 70 per cent of the sarees market in the country is catered by the traders and dealers in Surat," Said Arum jariwala.

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