In the picturesque foothills of Zabarvan mountain and along the banks of famous Dal Lake in Srinagar, the State Floriculture Department had laid the reputed Indira Gandhi Tulip Garden on the sprawling terraces spread over 250 kanals of land. At one time, the State Government had requisitioned the expert services of a naturalist. He evinced keen interest in developing the floriculture of Kashmir and in fact the tulip garden was his brain child. The staff of the Department remembers him with great fondness because of the care he took about the welfare of gardeners and labourers employed for working in Floriculture Department.
There was much sense in developing an expansive tulip garden. Tulips blossom in spring. Spring is lean season in Kashmir from tourist inflow point of view. The purpose was not only of providing a beautiful garden but also to draw commercial benefit out of it. The scheme was very well planned and did yield desired result. About 7-8 lakh tulips were planted and nurtured so as to bloom into full glory in spring and turn the entire area into a mosaic of beauty. This ultimately began to be counted as the second largest tulip garden in the world. It received wide publicity and rightly so. Tourists began to flock to Kashmir in spring, usually the off season and come to see the beautiful tulip garden in the lap of Mother Nature. Tulip garden become popular so that in 2007 around 20,000 people visited it. In 2014 the figures went up to 1.7 lakh. Since the garden is situated on the banks of famous Dal Lake, the tourists coming to have a look at it naturally were attracted for a shikara ride over the Dal. The Tulip Garden added to tourist economy of the State. Earlier, there was a proposal to bring more areas under tulip cultivation and to plant 20 lakh tulip bulbs in the garden. But that plan has been shelved and it is being now turned into all season garden.
Unfortunately, this beautiful and well planned Tulip Garden is faced with dark and dismal days. Somebody in the Department of Floriculture suggested to turn the tulip garden into all flower garden, and thus do away with its exclusive character. The purpose of converting the Tulip Garden into an all season garden is to make it attractive for tourists of all seasons and not specifically spring tourist only. With this decision, considerable controversy has erupted among the naturalists and those involved in tourist industry in the valley. Many people who are closely associated with the tourist industry in Kashmir are unhappy with the new decision of the authorities. They argue that by considerably reducing the area under cultivation of tulips, no attraction will be left with the tourists to come to Srinagar during spring which is usually a wet season in Kashmir. Secondly, the fame of Kashmir Tulip Garden as the second largest Tulip Garden in the world will no more be there. It will have adverse impact on the economy of Kashmir. As far as all season garden is concerned, we have two world famous gardens not far away from the Tulip Garden on the banks of the Dal. These are Nishat Bagh and Shalimar Bagh, both of which have been very well maintained by the Tourism Department. Actually there is no need of having an all season flower garden close by. The Tulip Garden has had its own grace, beauty and magnificence. There seems no strong argument to support the idea of discarding the Tulip Garden or reducing its area and production activity considerably, and finally develop an all season garden spread over an area of 600 kanals of land. Tulip Garden can remain as it is and all season flower gardens can be developed separately and adjacent to it.
Floriculture is a delicate industry. Every soil is not conducive for tulip cultivation. Since the soil at the existing Tulip Garden as proved conducive, it should not have been deprived of its sheen and glamour. It has to be remembered that floriculture is a huge commercial industry in some of the European countries especially Holland. Instead of curtailing the area for cultivation of tulip, it should have been extended with the purpose of make tulip growing a commercial activity. If the industry is managed along modern scientific methods, we have chances of earning foreign currency in a big way by exporting flowers to western countries where these are in great demand.
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