SRINAGAR: With winter chill giving way to pleasant sunshine, Srinagar is witnessing a huge inflow of tourists. A major attraction in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir is the Tulip Garden which has so far recorded 3.11 lakh footfalls in the 19 days since it was opened on March 23. Officials said this is the highest footfall ever recorded in the garden since it was inaugurated in 2007.
Assistant Floriculture officer Inam-ul-Rehman told this newspaper that around 3.11 lakh people visited the garden till Sunday evening. This figure included 1.10 lakh tourists.
Last year, 2.25 lakh people had visited the garden before it was closed due to the second wave of Covid-19 outbreak. The garden remained closed in 2020 after the pandemic outbreak.
The garden has 1.5 million tulips of 68 varieties and colours. It is spread over 30 hectares and situated on the foothills of Zabarwan range. A tourist Ajit Kumar said the garden offered a “unique experience”.
“I am visiting the garden for the first time. No place is as beautiful as Kashmir and it is rightly called as ‘Paradise on Earth’,” he said.
However, the rise in mercury is a cause of concern for gardeners.
Over 100 gardeners and casual labourers are working overtime to ensure that the tulips continue to bloom in view of dry weather and above-normal temperature. A gardener said tulips need low temperature for survival.
“Since the temperature has increased, we have to irrigate the garden with care and without hurting the flower. We water the plants at night,” he said.
‘Biggest Amarnath Yatra this year’
SRINAGAR: Union Secretary of Information and Broadcasting Apurva Chand on Monday said this year’s Amarnath Yatra would be the “biggest in history” and six to eight lakh are expected to perform the annual pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine in south Kashmir.
The 43-day yatra would commence on June 30 and culminate on the Raksha Bandhan day on August 11. The official said necessary arrangements have been put in place for the yatra.