Srinagar: Spread over 74 acres on the banks of Dal Lake in the foothills of Zabarwan mountain range, Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden or the Siraj Bagh is in full bloom, but there are no visitors to witness this beautiful scenery.
Asia's largest Tulip garden with over 13 lakh tulip flowers at full bloom this season was supposed to be open for public in the first week of March but that didn't happen owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic, reported on January 30 in India, has so far infected 12,380 people in the country and claimed 414 lives.
This is the first time in a decade that no one is present to appreciate the breath-taking view of the garden managed by the Jammu & Kashmir Floriculture Department.
According to a senior official of the department, despite the Pulwama attack and low footfall of tourists, over 2.58 lakh visitors came here to appreciate the breath-taking view of the Tulip garden last year and the state government earned around Rs 79 lakh from entry fee.
"This year the garden has not seen a single admirer. The situation is very gloomy. We were expecting around four lakh visitors but the coronavirus has left us hopeless, " the official said, adding, "The number of tulip flowers this year were increased by over one lakh compared to last year. Tulip bulbs worth Rs 60 lakh were imported from Gulf countries. A water canal was also made for the attraction of the visitors. All we can now see is a loss."
Behind the month-long spectacle, scores of gardeners and the department staff toil for months to prepare the garden for the next season.
Also read:Support people by ration not by bhashan: Kapil Sibal
That includes harvesting the bulbs, preserving them in cold storage, preparing the flower beds, removal of weeds and mixing of manure. For the gardeners, appreciation by the visitors is enough to recharge them to prepare the garden for the next season.
The department used to sell Tulip cut-flowers in the markets at metro cities but this year that too is a distant dream.
"Every year the department used to send Tulips (cut-flowers) for sale in metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai but this year that too won't be possible. We use to earn over Rs 30 lakh annually from selling flowers in different cities but now because of pandemic chances are bleak. Flowers have started to wilt and by the time lockdown is lifted entire garden will be deserted. We can foresee big losses coming in our way, " the official said with a sigh.
Former J&K chief minister and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, as his brainchild, revamped and opened the garden for the public in 2007. It was ranked as the fourth biggest tulip garden in 2017 at the World Tulip Summit in Canada. It was also touted as one of the top five tulip destinations at the Summit.
On April 8, former chief minister Omar Abdullah while sharing pictures of the garden wrote on the micro-blogging website: “We can’t visit this year so here’s a glimpse of what we are missing. Let’s hope next year is a bumper bloom and a bumper season of visitors.”
The tourism industry of the Valley is witnessing huge slump since the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A last year. The local population whose livelihood was based on the tourism sector were hopeful that the damage would be compensated with the advent of spring season but now COVID-19 has played a spoilsport.
Also read: If lockdown not solution, then why states with Congress in power extended it first: BJP
