Manzoor Ahmad, 40, a gardener at Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden in Srinagar wakes up with the first dawn of the light and ensures that he reaches the garden on time. ¡°I leave by 7:00 am and reach the garden by 10:30,¡± says Ahmad who hails from south Kashmir's Tral town.
Ahmad is among 82 gardeners who are making their best efforts on a daily basis so that the garden looks refreshing. ¡°Our day starts in the morning and ends in the evening. Our priority has always been to make this garden look more beautiful so as to welcome more visitors,¡± he said.
Located at the foothills of the Zabarwan Range with an overview of Dal Lake, Asia's largest tulip garden was thrown open on March 25. Over 15 lakh (1.5 million) tulips consisting of 63 varieties of multi-coloured ones have bloomed in Kashmir's Tulip Garden mesmerizing thousands of tourists and locals. This year an additional 200,000 tulip bulbs have been added to the 30-hectare of garden. Last year, around 1.3 million tulips bloomed amid the lockdown imposed to check the COVID-19 spread. The garden was opened in 2007 with the aim to boost floriculture and tourism in Kashmir valley.
As Ahmad enters the garden the work mode begins for him. ¡°We go for digging the soil, removing grass around the flower, fertilization and many other things. This has become our daily routine now,¡± he said.
Ahmad says that he has no source of income other than working in the Tulip garden. ¡°I am paid around Rs 6,800 per month and I am working as a daily wager with the Floriculture Department. This amount is not enough to feed my family,¡± says Ahmad who has been working at the garden for the last 15 years now.?
¡°I don¡¯t have that much of income that I can afford a cab from home to Srinagar which is around 60 kilometers. I prefer the bus and it charges me Rs 100 only,¡± he said.
He said that he has been requesting the higher officials of his department for regularization of his job. ¡°After passing for so many years nothing has been done. Whatever I am earning is being spent on my travelling. I have no savings for my family,¡± he said.
Ahmad has a wife and two children at home. While his son is studying in class 6th and daughter left her studies half way due to the financial constraints.
Ahmad said that the month of March-April is very crucial for them. ¡°The gardeners toil year long, braving the vagaries of weather and indulging in constant hard work as the tulip flowers last for a maximum of one month but the process continues for the whole year and involves a very cumbersome activity. The garden is the result of sweat and blood of all the gardeners,¡± he said.
He said that the planting of tulip bulbs begin almost from June onwards. ¡°It is a round the year process and we are always ready for it,¡± he said adding that every year a new tulip bulb is planted.
¡°The bulb needs proper care like fertilization, some compost or dried manure, irrigation to the soil. Untimely snow can kill the flower and reduce its production too. It needs the hot weather to bloom,¡± he said. ? ? ?
He said that great planning goes into designing different sections of the garden to accentuate its beauty.
¡°Designing different sections takes a lot of effort. Each section is meticulously designed and selected for different varieties of tulips like strong gold, margaritas, candela, kung fu, early harvest, ile de france, etc. We also have hyacinths, daffodils and ranunculus.¡±
Before leaving for home in the evening, Ahmad always prays to God for his permanent job. ¡°Otherwise there will be nothing left to feed my family and we will be on roads,¡± he concludes by saying that he has to reach home before dusk.
Kashmir¡¯s tourism sector has been badly hit since 2019 when a lockdown and communications blackout was imposed to prevent protests against the stripping of the region¡¯s semi-autonomous status and division into two union territories. The COVID-19 lockdown exacerbated the situation.
¡°We are witnessing a good number of visitors to the garden on a daily basis this year. It will definitely boost the tourism in the valley,¡± said Director Floriculture Kashmir Farooq Ahmad Rather.