Srinagar, Oct 23 (KNO): Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday invited locals and tourists from across the country to visit the Chrysanthemum Garden in Srinagar, urging them to enjoy its beauty, take photographs and carry home beautiful memories.
“I invite not only tourists from across the country but, more importantly, our own people from Srinagar and surrounding areas to come, enjoy the beauty of this garden, take photographs and carry home beautiful memories,” Omar said after inaugurating the garden for the second consecutive year, as per the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO).
He said the garden was developed by the Department of Floriculture last year to provide a unique floral attraction during autumn and boost tourism towards the end of Kashmir’s tourist season.
“The Tulip Garden attracts a large number of tourists at the beginning of the tourism season, but we did not have any major attraction to offer visitors towards the end of the season. This garden has been developed to fill that gap,” Omar said.
He said the government aims to ensure that Kashmir offers distinctive floral attractions both at the beginning and towards the end of the tourism season.
Expressing satisfaction over the garden’s progress, the Chief Minister said he had witnessed significant improvements compared to last year. “Those who attended last year’s inauguration and visited the garden today must have noticed the remarkable progress. We will continue to develop and improve it in the coming years,” he said.
Highlighting the garden’s advantages, he said that unlike the Tulip Garden, which relies on bulbs imported from foreign countries, Bagh-e-Gul-e-Dawood uses locally available plant material. “We propagate and multiply these plants ourselves. Our effort will be to introduce something new in the garden every year,” he added.—(KNO)