Srinagar: With the tourism sector booming with each passing day, the Department of Floriculture is leaving no stone unturned in maintaining the parks and gardens in Jammu and Kashmir.
Officials of the department said that 275 gardens, parks and lawns spreading over an area of about 10500 kanals of land are being maintained by the Department of Floriculture, Gardens and Parks.
This includes world-famous Tulip Garden, eight Heritage Mughal Gardens of Nishat, Shalimar, Pari Mahal, Cheshmashahi, Jarokhabagh (Ganderbal), Verinag (Anantnag), Dara Shikoh(Anantnag), Achabal (Anantnag) in Kashmir division and Bagh-e-Bahu and Bhor camp Garden in Jammu division.
Besides, the Department is also maintaining two botanical gardens (NMBG Cheshmashahi and Kokernag) and three important installations of Raj Bhawan, New Secretariat, High Court, and office-cum-residential lawns of VVIPs and VIPs.
Giving the breakup, officials said that at present, 8832 growers are registered with the Department of Floriculture, Gardens, and Parks. However, they said, only 1005 are active in the line. “The total area under Commercial Floriculture in the UT is 191.08 Ha and the flower growers have been able to generate income of Rs. 19.75 crores during 2021-22,” they said.
Asia’s largest Tulip Garden in the foothills of Zabarwan was thrown open for the general public in March. The fame of Asia’s largest tulip garden, situated on the banks of the Dal Lake here, has reached far-away countries like Argentina as a record 3.7 lakh tourists, including foreigners, visited it this season.
The Indira Gandhi Tulip Garden, which was earlier known as Siraj Bagh, has drawn tourists from all over the country and abroad. The tulip show was successful as the footfall this season was the highest ever. Last year, 3.6 lakh tourists visited the garden.
“Our mission was to create a global appeal and we succeeded in it. Tourists from Thailand, the United States, European countries, and Argentina visited the garden,” Floriculture Department officials said.
During the Tulip Show of 2023, 1.5 million flowers comprising 68 varieties of Tulip, Mascari, Hyacinth, Daffodils and other spring flowers were on display. As many as 3.6 lakh (Local/National/International) tourists visited the garden which is an all-time record.