Srinagar, Apr 02: Nearly 75000 people visited Asia’s largest Tulip Garden, located at the foothills of the Zabarwan Mountains here,on first two days of Eid-ul-Fitr, while the number of total visitors since its opening on March 26 has crossed one and a half lakh mark.
In-charge Tulip Garden, Javid Masood while sharing the details with the news agency said, “A massive footfall of 44651 visitors was witnessed on Tuesday (2nd day of Eid-ul-Fitr) while 30,000 to 35,000 people visited the Garden on Monday (Day 1st of Eid-ul-Fitr),” he informed.
Masood said in the last seven days since the garden was formally thrown open by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on March 26, it has recorded a footfall of 1,56,000 visitors.
“Since the rush is increasing with each passing day, we are expecting that the previous year’s record will break this time,” he said, adding, “Everything is going smoothly as the public is quite cooperative and have been following the rules and regulations with spirit.”
In the meantime, Masood said that e-ticketing has proven beneficial for the visitors as the rush outside the garden for collecting the tickets has reduced to a large extent.
Also, Masoodi said that the garden will continue to remain open till the bloom of the Tulips. “In case the weather remains favourable, the garden can remain open for a month,” he said.
With 1.7 million bulbs, the garden was thrown open for the general public on March 26.
The famous Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden is having two more varieties imported from the Netherlands this year. 100 gardeners and casual labourers have made hectic efforts to complete all the processes and make the garden ready for the public.
On the inaugural day (March 26), the garden witnessed an overwhelming response from tourists. It recorded an unprecedented footfall of 17,259 visitors, setting a new record.
Pertinently, 4.5 lakh visitors visited the garden last year, surpassing all the previous records.
It is worth mentioning here that Tulip Garden in summer capital earned a spot in World Book of Records (London) as Asia’s largest in 2023.
In 2024, Asia’s largest Tulip Garden experienced an extraordinary surge in tourism, with a staggering 4.45 lakh visitors flocking to witness its vibrant blooms, including approximately 2,000 from foreign shores.(KNO)