`Spring Blossom Festival’: Exit Badamwari, enter Zawoora park

Srinagar: Forget Badamwari, Zawoora park is the latest go-to place for picnickers in Kashmir.

For the first time, the horticulture department has started Spring Blossom Festival at the Center of Excellence, Zawoora, to showcase high-density exotic fruit plants in full bloom

The Center was thrown open on March 21 and will be closed on April 15 for the general public.

The Centre houses hundreds of varieties of apple, peaches, pears, walnut, and other varieties of fruit plants.

Spread over 15 acres, the garden attracts a large number of visitors.

“It is a nice step taken by the government. The fruit plants are in full bloom and that gives a unique feel,” said Mujeeb Ahmad Wani, a visitor.

He suggested that the Zawoora Centre of Excellence also needs to be promoted during harvesting season. “Many tourists want to visit apple orchards. Zawoora nursery can prove a center of attraction for them,” Wani said.

The garden is leaving tourists spellbound because of its colorful blossom. “It was suggested by our driver to visit this garden. I had never seen a peach and pear blossom before,” said Smita Mehta, a tourist from West Bengal.

Director Horticulture Aijaz Ahmad Bhat said the main motive of the event was to showcase Horti-Tourism.

Divisional Commissioner P K Pole said that the festival aims to attract tourists and increase the income of the farmers.