Suhail Bhat
Srinagar, Mar 16: A vibrant sea of colours greeted visitors on the banks of the iconic Dal lake today as Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, inaugurated Asia’s largest tulip garden, marking the beginning of the spring tourist season in Kashmir.
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The Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden, located on the foothills of the Zabarwan range and overlooking Dal Lake, opened to visitors with a spectacular display of around 1.8 million tulips across 75 varieties.
Spread over 30 hectares, the garden creates a striking floral landscape with rows of brightly coloured tulips arranged in terraces against the backdrop of the Zabarwan hills. In addition to tulips, the garden also features other spring flowers including daffodils, hyacinths and ornamental blooms.
Speaking at the inauguration, Omar said the opening of the garden coincided with the arrival of spring and expressed hope that it would bring relief to those associated with the tourism industry. “It is such a beautiful season. There is snow and the scent of flowers as well. Where else would you get to see this?” he said.
He said the start of spring could bring renewed opportunities for the tourism sector, which had faced a difficult phase in recent months. “We hope that from this week, as the spring season begins, it will bring a new spring for people associated with the tourism industry. They went through a tough phase, but just as seasons change, situations also change. We hope the situation will improve and people will enjoy the beauty of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
He said the tourist season in Kashmir traditionally begins with the opening of the tulip garden and noted that a large number of visitors were already waiting outside the venue. “Our tourist season starts from here and we hope the situation will remain good and people associated with tourism will get a great season,” he said.
The Chief Minister praised the Floriculture Department for its efforts in preparing the garden “This time the department has added terraces and changes in bed designs have been done. A new thing is the establishment of a souvenir shop,” he said.
He added that more features would gradually be introduced in the future to provide visitors with new experiences. “This is just the beginning and slowly more things will be added. Efforts will be made to give a new experience to visitors,” Abdullah said.
The Chief Minister also spoke about efforts to develop tulip bulbs locally in collaboration with Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir and the horticulture department. “The work is being done. The Vice Chancellor is here and he has a good proposal from SKUAST-K regarding developing bulbs here,” he said.
He added that scientists were exploring ways to extend the blooming season and create artificial blooming in controlled environments. “It is also being seen how the season can be increased. In the hothouse, how we can make artificial bloom of these tulips and take them to the market,” he said.
Abdullah said improving cold-chain infrastructure was essential for strengthening the horticulture sector. “If our cold chain gets better, either by rail or by ship, then it will not be difficult to give momentum to the horticulture industry here,” he said.
He noted that a significant amount of foreign exchange was spent on importing tulip bulbs from the Netherlands and that efforts were underway to reduce dependence on imports. “SKUAST and the horticulture department have taken the responsibility of seeing how tulip bulbs can be propagated here so that the foreign exchange spent on bringing bulbs from the Netherlands can be saved,” he said.
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