Srinagar: One of Srinagar’s main tourist attractions, the Tulip Garden, is all set to be thrown open for tourists on Wednesday, with nearly 1.5 million flowers expected to bloom over the next month.
Located on the banks of Dal Lake and on the foothills of the Zabarwan range, this Tulip garden is considered to be the largest such in Asia. It was first opened in 2007 when Ghulam Nabi Azad was the Chief Minister of the erstwhile J&K State heading a Congress-People’s Democratic Party (PDP) alliance.
Floriculture department officials have said that the preparations have almost been finalised with dozens of gardeners and other staff working overtime for the opening.
“This year, we will have a bloom of around 1.5 million tulips from 68 different varieties of the flower,” an official in the department said. “We are expecting a great season and an increased footfall.”
The last few years have been dull as far as tourism is considered in Kashmir, beginning with the lockdown post abrogation of Article-370 and bifurcation of the state into two union territories.
Covid followed and back-to-back lockdowns to contain the spread of the virus also added to the misery of the tourism sector in Kashmir.
However, despite the lockdown, more than 2.3 lakh tourists visited the Tulip Garden in Srinagar last year, Deputy Director of the Floriculture department, Shayiq Rasool, told Kashmir Reader.
“We are expecting to get a footfall of over 3 lakh this year, provided everything goes according to the plan,” Rasool said.
While everything else seems to be going fine, the weather might be the spoiler this year.
March has been exceptionally warmer compared to the previous years and the temperature is expected to rise further in the coming days. Rasool said that scorching sun can be detrimental for the tulips and can curtail the bloom.
“Typically the bloom lasts for over a month, but the scorching sun can curtail the time period,” Rasool said.
Besides, the holy month of Ramadhan is starting in the first week of April and fasting locals might not be very enthusiastic about visiting the garden.

Suhail A Shah