Jammu Flower Garden: Beautiful concept neglected by inept administration!
Jammu, June 30: As they say the brightest of ideas are thrown into the dustbin when the power echelons are headed by indifferent, biased and inefficient people.
Similar things have happened in our state where numerous ideas got crushed under the mighty feet of arrogant politicians, bureaucrats and inefficient people leaving this state at the mercy of the almighty.
While Jammu has always been crying hoarse of gross discrimination by the successive governments its leaders have always turned a nelsons eye when the beautiful projects are relegated to dustbin by the powers that be, little caring even to stage a small protest demonstration.
This is what has happened to a beautiful project conceived by the then chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad for Jammu in the shape of Flower Garden at Bhour camp to compensate the region for Kashmir’s Tulip garden.
But unfortunately while Tulip garden is progressing by leaps and bounds the Bhour camp garden has faced gross neglect and apathy by the successive administrations relegating it to a place inhabited by drug addicts and drunkards as the sun begins to set.
Had it not been so, this beautiful garden would have proved a boon for the economy of the area as it was conceived to compete with the world famous Tulip garden of Kashmir. However the leadership of Jammu has acted as a mute spectator letting the garden become a grazing field for animals and heaven for drunkards keeping the tourists and families at bay.
Jammuites have been hoping against hope that the new government takes up this project seriously and creates the relevant infrastructure to make this place a real competitor of Tulip garden and help Jammu rebuild its vast tourism potential which has been neglected for decades, but little has been done since the new government took over.
Flower Garden in Bhour Camp was a landmark of Jammu tourist destinations as this beautiful garden did not bloom overnight but took some time before the idea was conceived to turn it around.
It was a piece of land in Bhour Camp lying vacant and fallow for a long time. Gradually, Flower Garden was developed here turning a dry land into a beautiful garden.
The idea of having a Flower Garden with many varieties of flowers was brought up by the then Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. He came to Bhour Camp in an airplane and seeing the barren chunk of land proposed the idea of a flower garden. Although the Chief Minister himself conceived the idea, but the task of developing the garden was entrusted to Floriculture Department of Jammu.
This Flower Garden in Bhour Camp was a major center for Floriculture but is being thrown into dustbin gradually by the concerned department. It could have been self sufficient and proved an economic boost to the area where tourists would have loved to unfold the beauty of this garden and explore the many varieties of flowers developed here, but alas that was not to be and the garden has become heaven for the anti-social elements and cattle grazers.
There used to be days when tourists visiting Bhour Camp could not stop admiring the masses of flowers, which brought them closer to nature as this piece of paradise gave immense pleasure to them.
This beautiful Flower Garden played an important role in attracting tourists and visitors from different parts of Jammu to this place throughout the year and was supposed to become a huge financial support for locals with the growing influx of tourists, but the honeymoon was short-lived and soon the lethargy took over the enthusiasm of the sarkari babus.
Bhour Camp Flower Garden would have been an ideal spot for both experience seekers and history buffs but all the hopes of the Jammuites were dashed to ground by the inept, inefficient, biased administration, political class and lethargic leadership of Jammu.
The flower garden of Bhour camp is a glaring example of how Jammu is being neglected and its vast tourist potential suppressed by the vested interests as well as the un-ethical political class that hardly cares for the development of the state or the region.
Now it can only be hoped against hope that the new political class that has emerged in Jammu takes note of it and initiates steps to undo the wrongs that have been done to Jammu and this flower garden in particular, because numerous news stories appearing in the local and national newspapers have failed to awaken the administration or the politicians till now. Hope is our only solace.