Tulip garden thrown open, impressive tourist footfall on first day

With the arrival of spring  season in the valley , Asia’s largest tulip garden, situated in the foothills of an imposing mountain in Srinagar, was thrown open for public on Sunday.

Asia’s largest tulip garden overlooking the famous Dal Lake here in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir was Sunday thrown open to public, marking the beginning of new tourism season in the valley.

The garden witnessed an impressive footfall of locals and tourists on the first day of its opening this year.

Formerly known as Siraj Bagh, the Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden was opened in 2008 by then Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.

The idea of the garden, spread over 30 hectares in the foothills of snow-clad Zabarwan range, was conceived to advance the tourism season in the valley by two months.

The average life span of tulip flower is three to four weeks, but heavy rains or too much of heat can destroy them.

The Floriculture Department plants tulip bulbs in a phased manner so that the flowers remain in the garden for a month or more.

This year the department has planted nearly 12 lakh bulbs of different varieties.

On the first day of its opening this year, Advisor to the Governor, Khurshid Ahmed Ganai, who is also Advisor in -charge of Floriculture and Tourism Departments, complimented the Floriculture Department for throwing open the Garden. In his message, he conveyed his appreciation to the officials and workers of the Floriculture Department posted at the Tulip Garden for their hard work and dedication. He expressed the hope that Srinagar Tulip Garden will attract tourists from outside the State and thereby boost the tourism sector in the state. The Advisor appealed to visiting public to help maintain the cleanliness and beauty of the garden by observing various instructions of the management displayed on boards and prominent places in the garden.

While as Director Floriculture Abdul Hafiz Shah said the garden houses 51 varieties of tulips this year.

“Then there are 12 varieties of hyacinths and some more varieties of other flowers,” he said.

He said the garden achieved a bloom of about 20-25 per cent on the day of its opening.

The official said the opening day was a “good beginning” as footfall of visitors — both locals as well as tourists — was impressive.