Coronavirus: This season, tulips in Srinagar to wither without catching an eye

For the first time in its more than decade-long history, 1.3 million tulips at Asia’s largest tulip garden in Srinagar will wither without catching an eye due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nestled on the foothills of Zabarwan Range, the Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden here, which is Asia's largest, was all set to have 1.3 million tulips on a display for both domestic and foreign tourists from mid-March.

However, due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, none will witness the splendor of tulips this time. The tulip bloom lasts only for a month – from mid-March to mid-April until the temperatures witness a surge in Kashmir.

The garden, overlooking the Dal Lake, is a riot of colours these days due to the full bloom of tulips this season. “This year, the Department had introduced one lakh additional tulips to its 1.2 million bulbs in the garden. This season, we had planned to keep the garden open for 40-days,” an official of the Floriculture Department, which manages and looks after the garden, told DH.

However, he said, due to the coronavirus pandemic this time there is no visitor to witness the “magnificence of million tulip bloom.”

The garden spread over 30 acres was ranked fourth-biggest tulip garden among the world’s biggest tulip gardens by the World Tulip Society in 2017. It was also touted among the top 5 tulip destinations in the world at the Tulip Summit in Canada in 2017.

The tourism players in Kashmir had expected that the Garden will once again attract tourists to violence-hit Kashmir. The tourism sector has been badly hit in Kashmir since August 5 last year when the government of India announced the abrogation of Article 370.

Official figures reveal that around two to three lakh visitors, including locals, domestic and international tourists would visit the garden in a matter of one month. The closure of the garden due to the pandemic is definitely, a tourism official said a new “jolt” to the already ailing tourism sector.

“Tulip garden had become a new opening for tourism in spring in Kashmir. It would prolong the tourism season of Kashmir. However, saving lives is more important than tourism,” he said.

The garden was opened in 2007 by the then chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad with an aim to boost floriculture and tourism in Kashmir. Apart from tulips, many other species of flowers - hyacinths and daffodils -- are available here.