The arrangement of flower pots at the Government Botanical Garden in Udhagamandalam marked the beginning of the second tourist season in the Nilgiris on Friday.
Officials from the Horticulture Department said more than 2.3 lakh flowering plants had already been planted and grown in the garden in preparation for the second season. More than 140 varieties of plants including dahlias, Inca marigolds, French marigolds, begonias, daisies, calendulas, dianthuses, platycodons, arabises, chrystanthemums, asters, primulas, balsams, cyclamens and geraniums, among others, would be on display at the garden.
More than 7,000 potted plants were being arranged in the viewing gallery at the garden.
The Nilgiris district administration, in a press release, urged tourists to follow established protocols to control the spread of COVID-19. Officials said that following the opening of the parks and gardens in the Nilgiris earlier this week, various measures, including limiting the number of people allowed into the garden and parks at any particular time, as well as ensuring personal distancing, were being strictly enforced.
This year, the summer festival, which drew a huge number of tourists to the district each year, had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The officials expressed the hope that there would be an influx of tourists to the district during the second season, which began in September and continued into October each year.
Monitoring officer for the Nilgiris Supriya Sahu, District Collector J. Innocent Divya, Udhagamandalam Sub-Collector Monikha Rana and Joint Director of Horticulture Sivasubramaniam Samraj were present at the garden to inaugurate the second season.