Srinagar, Apr 14 (KNO): Asia’s largest Tulip Garden in Srinagar is set to close on April 16 as the bloom has declined to around 20 per cent, officials said on Tuesday.
Assistant Floriculture Officer In-charge Tulip Garden Srinagar, Imran Ahmad, told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the bloom is steadily fading and is expected to drop further in the coming days. “We usually close the garden once the bloom falls below 15 per cent. As of now, it is around 20 per cent, so the garden will be closed on April 16,” he said.
Ahmad said the garden has completed 29 days of operations this season, attracting around 3.54 lakh visitors, including online ticketing. “Out of the total footfall, nearly 2 lakh were national visitors, around 1.5 lakh were locals, besides a good number of foreign tourists,” he said.
Highlighting a major trend, the officer said daily footfall has seen a sharp rise this year. “Earlier, we used to receive 3,000–4,000 national visitors per day, but now the number has increased to 9,000–11,000 daily, which is very encouraging,” he said.
He said the surge has come despite challenges, including the garden opening 10–12 days earlier than usual and prevailing global uncertainties. “Even then, we are consistently witnessing around 10,000 visitors daily, especially from outside J&K,” he added.
Ahmad said the Tulip Garden continues to mark the beginning of Kashmir’s tourism season and expressed hope for a strong summer. “With rising temperatures in other parts of the country and Kashmir’s pleasant weather, we expect more tourists in the coming months,” he added—(KNO)