 EARLY TIMES REPORT
Srinagar, Apr 26: All paid parks and gardens, including Asia’s largest Tulip garden and Mughal gardens, wore a deserted look on Monday after witnessing heavy rush of visitors, including tourists from different parts of the country, till recently.
Thousands of people visited “Badamwari” to witness almond blossom in the down town, where no Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) were followed. This was followed by heavy visitors to Asia’s largest India Gandhi Tulip garden and other Mughal gardens on the bank of famed Dal Lake.
However, the gates of all gardens and parks were on Monday closed for visitors following order by Union Territory (UT) Lt Governor to close down them till further orders amid unabated rise in the number of fresh COVID-19 cases and deaths in Kashmir valley during the last about a fortnight.
The development came after J&K administration on Sunday ordered closure of all public parks in the Union Territory. “On account of the prevailing COVID situation in J&K, the State Executive Committee, in exercise of the powers conferred up on it under section 24 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, hereby orders that all paid public parks in the Union Territory of J&K shall remain closed for visitors till further orders,” read the order.
The administration has during the last couple of weeks attracted huge criticism from health experts and civil society for closing educational institutes and keeping the parks and gardens open despite a huge surge in COVID-19 cases in the valley.
After a record 2.15 lakh visitors in just 22 days of its opening on March 25, Tulip garden, which is located in the foothills of Zabarwan mountain range, wore a deserted look as all its gates were closed for general public on Monday.
“The garden since March 25 witnessed 2.15 lakh visitors, including 1.43 locals and 72,000 tourists from different parts of the country,” official sources said, adding nearly 15 lakh tulip bulbs of 64 varieties were planted this year in the garden.
A notice posted on the gate of Tulip garden read, ‘Garden closed due to COVID-19 pandemic; Stay home, stay safe’.
“It is good that the government has closed gardens and parks… they should have done it a long time back, but nevertheless, it will help curtail the spread of COVID-19.
These gardens had become hot spots for COVID-19 spread as people used to throng these parks in large numbers without adhering to the guidelines,” Mushtaq Ahmad, a resident of Brain Nishat, said.
Similarly, Mughal gardens along the bank of world famous Dal Lake, Badamwari garden in downtown Srinagar and other public parks in the valley, including summer capital, Srinagar, were closed for general public.
Meanwhile, four famous ski resort of Gulmarg and other famous tourist destinations have also witnessed a dip in the number of tourist arrivals in view of unabated rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in J&K and other parts of the country.
He said after a bumper winter season, the people associated with tourism were hopeful that the upcoming summer season will also be good for the business which took heavy losses during curbs post abrogation of special status of J&K in 2019 and Covid lockdown in 2020.
Other tourist resorts -- including Pahalgam, Sonamarg and Doodhpathri – also witnessed a steep decline in the number of tourists following rise in the COVID-19 cases.
Health experts are suggesting curbing the arrival of tourists in the valley in order to prevent other COVID variants to enter Kashmir. Passengers, including tourists arriving in Kashmir through Srinagar airport, undergo RT-PCR test but it takes two to three days for the reports to arrive. During this time the passengers are allowed to move into the city.
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