3 months ago
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Facing a large setback aft the Pahalgam panic onslaught in 2025, the Jammu and Kashmir Government is banking connected the blooming gardens of tulips and almonds to revive tourism successful the Valley this year.
J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is acceptable to inaugurate a outpouring festival aboriginal this week astatine Srinagar’s Badamwari, an almond plot that offers mesmerising blooming pinkish and achromatic flowers.
“An further 300 caller almond trees person been planted to adhd to the bloom this year. A lavender spot dispersed implicit 50 kanal (6.25 acre) of Badamwari is being curated to widen the outpouring flowering up to May-June. Many caller plants person been introduced to adhd to the colour palette and fragrance of the garden,” Mathoora Masoom, Director of Floriculture, Kashmir, told The Hindu.
Spread implicit 300 kanal (37.5 acre) of land, the Badamwari garden, which predates the 14th century, has an Afghan-era fort — Hari Parbhat — nearby. It besides houses the shrines of spiritual figures revered by Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs.
“We purpose to alteration the plot into an all-season garden. The thought is to present the visitors to the affluent varieties of floral quality Kashmir offers. The garden’s accepted aesthetics is being integrated into modern visitor-friendly features,” Ms. Masoom said.
Editorial | Kashmir revival: On the way of tourism
The Floriculture Department has introduced selfie points successful the plot and refurbished all-wood rainfall shelters to popularise the plot connected societal media platforms. The blooming plot is being curated connected the lines of Japan’s cherry blossom festivals, “to marque it portion of tourists’ itinerary”, adjacent though the outpouring bloom offers a constricted abbreviated period.
Besides the almond blooming, the section volition unfastened the Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden successful Srinagar from March 16, which offers blooming tulips. With implicit 1.8 cardinal tulip bulbs, comprising 70 to 75 antithetic varieties, the garden offers a rare Netherlands’ Keukenhof-like bloom experience. Selfie points volition beryllium acceptable up to let tourists to grounds their memories.
“We are afloat prepared to person visitors successful the garden,” said the official.
The tulip plot hosted a grounds 8.25 lakh visitors successful 2025 April. However, the violent onslaught connected the 26th of that period flattened the tourism graph for galore months. The onslaught killed 26 civilians, including 25 tourists. Operation Sindoor successful May further dented the flow.
In fact, the tulip plot was among 44 destinations closed for tourists past year. However, it was reopened this twelvemonth aft a information audit. Only 11.16 lakh tourists visited Kashmir successful 2025 compared to 26 lakh tourists successful 2024. The tourism assemblage contributes astir 7% to J&K’s Gross State Domestic Product.
