Tulip Garden: 15 lakh tulips to bloom this season;preparation in full swing:Officials

Expecting record-breaking visitors this year

Srinagar, Feb 28: The gardeners and labourers are busy cleaning water channels, installing green nets, and repairing lights while a large number of labourers are spraying fertiliser at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden in Srinagar.

According to a floriculture department official, preparations at the tulip garden are underway, and more than 15 lakh tulips will bloom this season. He stated that 60 people had been pressed into service to beautify the tulip garden.

The officer stated department of horticulture in Kashmir has also expanded a fountain channel this year to make it more appealing to tourists. This year, we are expecting record-breaking tourist footfall.

Tulip Garden In-Charge Inam Rehman told Rising Kashmir that work at the tulip garden has been accelerated, and only one month remains to hold the tulip show. He stated that all of the work, including minor engineering repairs, is being completed.

He said last year there were record-breaking visitors at the garden, and we are hopeful there will be more tourists this year as well. All concerned parties, including hoteliers, houseboat owners, travel agents, and others, played an important role, and our collective efforts resulted in the highest ever tourist numbers last year.

Last year, as many as 3.26 lakh tourists thronged the garden, which was the highest number ever since the garden was thrown open in 2007.

Mohammad Yousuf Khan, the tulip garden's head gardener, stated that they begin working in the garden early in the morning and work until late at night to make it more appealing. He said they are taking care of every tulip, as they have to take care that there should be no mixture of colors. "The way we are taking care of a new-born child, same way we are taking care of every tulips here."

He said, "Usually, the tulip bloom starts by late March." "The average life of a tulip flower is 20 days and can stretch to a maximum of 25 days, with the overall bloom getting extended by adding late-blooming varieties of tulips." Yousuf Rising Kashmir